The Mom

Addallee has been a part of our family for two months now, and Christmas is three days away.  Last night, I took a few minutes to just take a deep breath and enjoy the fact that I'm The Mom.

I have wanted to be A Mom for my entire life.  I was always the little girl pretending to be a mom to baby dolls and stuffed animals.  Becoming a mostly stay-at-home-mom has always been my ambition -- with a solid degree and career in place to use as needed and have the ability to support myself if the situation ever arose where I had to do so. 

But my dream has come true in that I am the Mom -- not A Mom... THE MOM.

I have four amazing, beautiful, inquisitive children all of whom depend on me every day.  The oldest is three years old -- two are one-year-old -- and one is still considered a newborn.  All four of these children are dependent on me in every sense of the word.  It is not lost on me that every day at home with me (and each other) is shaping each of their characters.  That is such a huge responsibility, and I fall short in how I correct them and train them every single day -- but, Lord, Willing, I get to wake up and try to do better tomorrow every single day.  Is there any greater work in the world?  I really don't think so.  Certainly, for me, there isn't.

I keep the trains moving every day at home.  I keep my family in clean clothes, in relatively un-wrinkled clothes (some are more wrinkled than others...), I keep our kitchen clean, and clean dishes in our cupboards.  I keep four children fed every day, even if my husband is the better cook... no one has starved under my care.  I keep our home clean-ish... well, maybe a better way of saying it would be that I keep the mess at bay.

I also keep our house a home, and Holidays special.  I am the one who reads the Christmas cards aloud to our children, and hangs them on the wall for us to enjoy throughout the Holiday season.  I am the one who decorates the house for any given Holiday.  I am the one who stays up late and/or gets up early to wrap presents and bake cookies.

I make sure our animals are fed every night and loved every day.  When I was a kid, I used to say that the dog and the cat (Lucky and Muff) were mine.  As I got older, my mom confessed that she really felt that the animals were hers because she fed them.  I now can completely relate to her feeling that way.  I am the one who keeps track of when they need to be fed, watered, let in a out of the house.  I am the one who will realize in the evening that I haven't seen Lexie for awhile and search the house to find her closed into the nursery, basement, or garage.  I cannot fall asleep if I haven't set eyes on both animals inside after all doors are locked for the night.  I also know their hiding spots if I cannot find one easily, I know where to look to find them when their hiding.

I love being the wife to my husband, and that is worth another post in and of itself... but the truth is, I love my job as the mom.  Two weeks ago, I worked every day and Hubby stayed home with the children, and I was able to glimpse first-hand how well I am able to keep things rolling at home, even when I think things are chaotic.  Hubby did great with the kids -- they were happy and cared for every day... but no laundry was done, no dishes were done, and very rarely were the kids dressed in anything other than pajamas.

I love that I am The Mom.  I love that I do things a certain way with my family, and there is no easy substitute for me and what I do every day.  I love that I get a chance every day to try to do my job better and better and learn more and more about my children and what they need and how to help them succeed.

This Christmas when I watch my children enjoy the magic of Christmas morning, and I see my husband relax in our warm and comfortably cluttered home, I plant to fully bask in the joy of being The Mom.  I plan to take a deep breath and acknowledge that my biggest dream has come true and I am right at the heart of this family that Hubby and I created.  I also plan to get down on my knees and thank our wonderful Father God for every blessing in my life and let him know how truly humbled I feel to be having such a blessed, joyful, and loving Christmas.