Routines

Some pictures before I begin this post...

getting ready to launch rockets!

Vintage Star Wars toys from their Uncle Eric

Ignore the improper use of the American flag please, and chalk it up to little boys being little boys! :)

A rare but welcome sight--all 3 boys playing in the sandbox

Bedtime routines with Braylen and Kaleb. Most nights they say their prayers, we tuck them in, and that is that. Even their prayers are routine. I have them both memorized. I've tried to talk about different topics for them to pray for, but they seem to gravitate towards what they're used to. How timely for our church to spend this summer teaching kids how to pray! Aaron's a different story. His sincere prayers change nightly, melting my heart or bringing much laughter. Tonight he thanked God for the songs we sing, among other things. Thinking he'd like to sing after his prayer, I asked him to pick a song. He turned me down. I guess it's one thing to pray about it, and another thing to act on it. :)

After Braylen prays for his dad's safety at work, he tacks me on at the end like this: "and help Mom as she does her routines around the house..." He almost says it with a snicker in his voice. He means no harm, but I want him to grow up respecting the role of a mom at home. My mom stayed home with me and my brother. Derek's mom stayed home with him and his siblings. They both did so with complete support from their husbands. Derek fully supports me in my decision to give up nursing to stay home with our boys. I am blessed to be at home with them. I hope and pray that they will follow Derek's example in their own marriages someday, loving their wives by respecting a decision such as this one.

Since Braylen occasionally reads my blog, the rest of this post is for him. (you can read it of course, but it will be long and might be boring!)

So, my dear son, what does your loving mother do all day in her "routines around the house?"

Up at 6:30, I shower and dress before you awake. I printed your 3 page paper last night and placed it by your backpack, making sure your planner is signed. Checking the lunch menu, I see your brother won't want to buy a lunch today. I'd better make him one. The dog needs to go out, and she needs fed and watered. Now it's time to wake you and your brother up for school! You're dressed and at the table while I poke and prod your sleepy brother out of bed and stand guard over him while he gets dressed. You know as well as I do that he will sneak back to bed if I don't. I pour Kaleb and Aaron's cereal and milk while I finish making Kaleb's lunch. Teeth brushed and out the door we go. Did you remember to pack a snack? I drop you and Kaleb off for school and head home.

Time for my breakfast, only Grandpa decides to come over and roto-till my garden for me before I can get my coffee made. I'd better put the dog away, open the gate for Grandpa, set up the Wii for Aaron...I grab a quick bowl of cereal and figure I need to keep moving. I can't wait to vacuum up all the grime from the weekend--and the birdcage is a filthy mess. Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning...start a load of laundry...then it's time to get Aaron away from the Wii and make sure he gets dressed. 2 online bills to pay and another to drop off at city hall. We don't want our water turned off or our garbage to pile up, do we? Better stop at the park and rec dept. and sign you and Kaleb up for this weekend's track meet. Then it's up to the local lumber store to buy supplies for your Cub Scout project tonight. We are hosting your meeting, and we need enough supplies for everyone to build their own small bookshelf.

Lunch at home with Aaron and wow, does he have a lot of chatter today! I wash some dishes leftover from the weekend while keeping my eye on Ginger in the yard. She thinks my freshly roto-tilled garden is a fun place to dig. Aaron begs me to play race cars with him, so that is what we do. Realizing Daddy's been without any kind of yummy dessert for a few weeks now, and knowing I'm not making a supper he really loves tonight, I pull out my ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. From scratch. That means I don't use dough from the store. Could it be 3:00 already? Time to pick you and Kaleb up from school!

Snack time leaves my kitchen full of crumbs and wrappers on the table. Homework? Oh yes, you're doing long division and needing my help. You ask me to help you and then get upset when I do. I wish you could do it yourself too, and you will. Once you learn how. And this is part of learning how. In and out, in and out, you three boys make me wish our house had a revolving door. I'm trying to bake the last batch of my cookies and wash those dishes up at the same time, but Aaron needs his shoes tied (again) and Kaleb needs me to untangle the basketball net because his ball is stuck in it. You whine when I ask you if you've practiced your piano, and complain that I never let you play the Wii. Sigh.

Kitchen all clean, warm cookies cooling on the counter, and now it's time to start making supper. We need to eat early tonight to be ready in time for Scouts. Preparing food (homemade mashed potatoes--no potato flakes here), setting the table, calling you all inside--we eat and then I clean up. I think I've done dishes 4 times by now. You're helping Daddy get the garage ready for your Cub Scout project--after I've been told "It's not a craft! It's a project!" Thinking I'd better wipe down the bathroom in case any Scouts (or parents) need to use it, and then I'm out the door with Kaleb and Aaron to go to Kaleb's Scout meeting.

I get to sit down for an entire hour! I rattle off Kaleb's completed electives to his Scout leader so he will get full credit at our final pack meeting coming up next Monday. I watch the boys play as they celebrate the end of their year as Wolf Scouts. Kaleb and Aaron both do plenty of running and digging in the dirt. Time to come home and take showers. You and your den are still working on your project in the garage, so it's hard to pull your brothers in the house. But I do it anyway. We get ready for bed and I read to them while you eventually come inside and get ready for bed. Better give Ginger her flea and tick (preventative) medicine while Daddy's outside to help me--she needs to stand still so I can squeeze it into her fur. We want to keep her healthy. I can finally tuck you in bed now, but the phone rings. Twice. Daddy answers it both times, and I leave your room at 9:15.

And that is just today. Other days bring other challenges. Different responsibilities. And lots of times I don't get everything done that I was hoping to get done. But being a mom means my "job" is to balance my many responsibilities with my delight in mothering my kids. I don't want to get to the end of the day and think, "I really should have played cars with Aaron instead of telling him I was too busy." I also don't want to think, "Well, I guess I'll get another late fee since I put off paying that bill again." Balance. is. the. key. I love being a mom. No nursing job could ever compare to the joy I find while loving and caring for my family by my actions.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." ~Colossians 3:23