Rediscovering

As a full-time housewife and homeschooling mother, sometimes my days become a blur and at the end of them I wonder where they went. Most days, I become so wrapped up in the "to-do" list that I forget the simple act of responding to my 13 month old chanting "mama, mama, mama" or really watching my child when they say, "Hey, Mom, look what I can do!" or preparing a meal for the simple love of putting together nourishment that tastes good. When my days one after another start to take on this pattern, I find I really have to sit myself down and give myself a good talking to. This generally involves returning to a few books that have offered me the opportunity to reclaim the beauty and dignity of a simple day at home with my children. Years ago, shortly after my first child was born, my much wiser sister gave me a simple gift of a short book entitled The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and Women's Work by Kathleen Norris. It is one that I have found myself returning to after each of my children, because it is so rich in its explanantion of the daily never ending tasks having eternal benefits. Through this book, I have been reminded over and over again that the things I see as nuisance are things to be done with love and gratitude. I cannot express what a wonderful experience it is to rediscover this book every few years! The other book I am coming back to at this particular time is by Molly Sabourin entitled Close to Home: One Orthodox Mother's Quest for Patience, Peace and Perseverance. Through her story of conversion, marriage and parenthood I have found that I am not the only one who feels a little tired some days! These two books have sat on my shelf for years, and yet I so often forget they are there and am pleasantly surprised to rediscovering how much encouragement I find each time I read them.

For me, the struggle is to be present for my family at this moment, because I am always thinking about what needs to be done next or how I am going to get each and every little thing finished before the clock hits bedtime. My children are so young, and it is so easy to believe that I will change diapers for the rest of my earthly life. Today, I want to take stock of just today and find the precious moments that will never be repeated and be a part of them. There are smiles on little faces that I want to have branded on my heart(especially when they are teenagers and I need to remember sweet smiling faces!!) and little hands and tiny toes to wonder at, abounding questions that never seem to end but I know that one day they will figure out I don't really know all the answers. I truly do not want to be one of those mother's who doesn't know how her children got to be so grown up all of a sudden. So, with these words said, I will extricate myself from this computer and go join the munchkins in a fleeting moment of life.