my Dear friends, here is your Friday pick-me-up / pep-talk. You are so amazing. You are doing fantastic things and making great choices and changes in your life. How do I know that? Because you are here. Good for you!
I was thinking this morning about how much we love the people that we have in our lives. Our spouses, our friends, our children, our parents. The people that we care about and the people that we take care. The people that we want to feel our love and to know that they matter to us.
I have taken a step back from the dinner stress this week and we have had some pretty laid back things on the menu. Ezra's All-Time-Favorite meal - tomato soup and grilled cheese, we had a roast in the crock pot and mashed potatoes, we had build your own quesadillas and buffalo chicken salads.
Instead of being stressed out that kids were having meltdowns at dinner time, I put them in charge of making the salad and then I let them have at it. I didn't criticize, I didn't fuss over it, and guess what it turned out just fine and the pride on their little face was worth all the efforts that it took for me to take those extra few breaths and calm myself down.
I don't know when I started to think that I was a better mom if I could take my kids to buy a happy meal. Or that if I took them to get slurpees that I was "treating" them. (It hurt me to type that, because I LOVE slurpees). But if I picked them up from school and said, "surprise, we are going to spend an hour at any park you choose!" they would probably love that a million times more than getting slurpees - and believe me, my kids LOVE slurpees.
I wish that when I put dinner on the table, and made my teens turn off their phones - I wish they thought... Boy! My mom sure does Love ME! But I would be willing to bet that is not what crosses their minds. But it is out of love that I do it. It is out of love that I make dinner every night, and ask them to help with the dishes and say a million times, be sure you have salad!
One night this week, Joseph and I were the last ones sitting at the table. Two kids had run to grab their jackets, Joseph was about to leave to take them to meetings. He was getting last minute instructions about what to pick up at the grocery store. I had two little ones that needed to be put in the tub and he says to me. "Well 3 people at your dinner tonight". It was so tragic and comical all at the same time. And honestly, God blessed me in that moment to think, That's okay, we were all here together. For a few minutes, we were all safe around the table and I got to send my love to each one of them. I put some dinner in front of them and reminded them that they needed to eat the salad and for 30 minutes in this crazy, insane, too busy, too scary world all my people knew that I was going to take care of them.
So good for each of YOU! Good for the choices that you made this week that were successes. I had a few colossal failures - one that involved broccoli and rice and my two year crying under the table. But You're here - and that means that you have people that you love that you are taking care of as well. We are doing great. We are making better choices, one choice at a time, one day at a time, sometimes one moment or one bite at a time, but we are doing it. And we are doing it out of love.
I love you all!
