For the days you feel insignificant...

Today, I woke up exhausted. We've been blessed with babies who sleep through the night, but teething hell is our current situation in the Harmon House. x2. Just as you get one baby down and get back to sleep yourself, the other wakes up. 

So I'm starting my days in exhaustion. With a near 2 year old who's eager to play and be entertained. With two 7 month olds who need me for everything. With a house that needs cleaned, meals that need cooked, and errands that need to be taken care of. 

I look around... 

& all I can see is what needs to be done.

& all I can hear is "Mommy play. Mommy mommy mommy. I want you to help me. Mommy I want drink. Mommy I need you. Mommy mommy mommy."

& all I can feel is the headache from yesterday that crept into today. 

& all I can smell is diapers. Diapers that desperately need to be changed. 

Hours pass.

Sippy's have been filled. Diapers have been changed. Meals cooked. Snacks made. House tidied (no way it's getting actually cleaned). Several hugs, several kisses, several break downs, & several tears have come and gone. 

I look around...

& all I can see is happy children. 

& all I can hear is "Mommy play. Mommy mommy mommy. I want you to help me. Mommy I want drink. Mommy I need you. Mommy mommy mommy."

& all I can feel is gratitude. Pure gratitude. 

I start and end my day in exhaustion. But somewhere in the middle, sometime during all the errands, mommy tasks, wife tasks, and life tasks- I find enjoyment. I find peace. I find perseverance. I find happiness. I find self worth. I find the reason for it all. 

& everything I do, I know I'll do tomorrow. 

& there are days when my days seem insignificant...when I'm not bringing home a paycheck and no one tells me what a good job I'm doing. I don't get promotions. I don't get vacation days. No one thanks me for the meal I worked hard on. No one thanks me for the laundry I washed and folded. No one thanks me for changing diapers, making bottles, or rocking them to sleep. There are days when I don't feel like anyone knows what I do to keep this house running the way it should. 

& then my children smile at me. They crawl into my lap. J gives me Eskimo kisses. Jessa clings to me like someone's trying to yank her away. & Joey, my sweet little man, he leans his head into my chest and looks up with just his four little teeth shining...and with that look, those actions, I realize they're saying , "Thank you mom."

& everything I thought was insignificant vanishes in that moment. Because nothing- not one word, one kiss, one bottle made or one meal cooked- not one thing I do as a mother is insignificant.

XOXOX, 

Harmon Housewife