Ordinary

      More snow is expected tonight, meaning yet another snow day tomorrow. I am not a fan of winter in the least and certainly not a fan of weather this cold for this long. Yes, it is easy to get down being overwhelmed and exhausted in single digit weather with double digit snow predictions. But while I was contemplating another day of being housebound with 3 children, a new perspective presented itself. Honestly, the snow doesn't change much for us. We are in this amazing stage of our family's life where we get to decide how every moment of every day is spent. Obviously Jameson has work, but the demands of a working mom, school, sports and other obligations have not yet been introduced to our little family. And while some days it would be nice to have something on the calendar, truthfully we are all pretty content with this season of calm. I have never been one to want to be home all the time. I like going out and being out. Even after Lucy and Vada, I would try to get us out of the house every day. But that has completely changed since having Hazel. I don't know if its the work of getting three little girls and myself fed, dressed and out the door or the sense of peace I now feel with where our family is. The girls don't seem to mind either. This morning I got all of us showered/ bathed and told them to go pick out clothes so we could head to the library. I walked in their room to find them dressed in fresh pajamas asking to just stay home. So, we did.

Some days I wake up wondering how to fill an entire day of nothing planned. I get exhausted from the amount of effort it takes, both mentally and physically, to keep up with these little ladies. Thinking of 3 meals plus snacks, a new way of working on letters and numbers, crafts, activities, and then the resulting clean up. I am mom, teacher, artist, cook, maid, clown, nurse, stylist, coach and referee. But not forever. This will be the only time in our life that three kids are all still home full time with me. Lucy and Vada are enrolled in preschool for the fall and our whole world will shift. Our days will be mapped out for us and soon revolve around drop off and pick up. How will we feel then? Will we miss these days? The days of snuggling in pajamas, making anything we want for breakfast no matter how time consuming, and just being home. The days of anytime-at-all baths, dance parties, book reading, block building, hot gluing, pedicures, and cookie baking.

A quote that I read a while ago has been on the forefront of my mind daily during this winter lull. "I love that you keep getting up to the same routine every day and somehow manage to make it a different memory by each night." My girls won't remember this time. They will see it in the millions of photos I have of them in pajamas, snuggling each other in the early morning. They will hear about it when they have their own babies and wonder how they can face another day of being a full time home mom, if they choose to do so. Most importantly, I hope they feel it. I hope these slow, lazy days have taught them the beauty of being content in everyday life. That everyday may not be exciting and adventurous but that it is ok. I hope the bond that they have formed being together every minute of every day as babies and toddlers carries them through their teenage rifts. I hope they know without a doubt  how deeply I felt I was exactly where I wanted to be, doing exactly what I wanted to do, and the sacrifices their daddy made in making it happen. That, evidently, in choosing to be a stay at home mom, I was choosing the magic of the ordinary.

"Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness. Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples, and pears. Show them how to cry when pets and people die. Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand. And make the ordinary come alive for them. The extraordinary will take care of itself." 

-William Martin-