For almost three years now I have stayed home with my children.  For almost three years now, rarely a month goes by that someone doesn’t ask me, “Don’t You Miss Work?”.  Most weeks at least one passerby asserts, “You have your hands full”.  Usually I don’t have the quick whit or patience to respond adequately to these remarks, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking about them while I’m driving down the highway or washing dishes at the kitchen sink.

Little do these people know that I work much harder now than I ever did when I was working.  It probably never crosses their mind that my hands are much fuller than they can estimate by looking.  I could write about the Target frustrations, Baby Girl self hair cut, countless bathroom messes, hours of homework negotiating, puppy trials, mountains of laundry, and piles of dishes.

I think instead, I will talk about my cup.  My sweet husband had a Yeti cup made for me.  It will keep ice for hours, it fits in my car’s cup holder, and it has some really awesome muddy girl camo.  Life has been like the cup this year.  I wanted a good water bottle.  I had several picked out and saved to my amazon wish list.  The cup I was given was different than what I had envisioned for myself, but so much more amazing than anything I could have dreamed or planned.

My cup runs over.

Every day.

I did not lose my mom to breast cancer this year, my parent did not have to struggle through a surgery and recovery, we did not attend any custody hearings, our children did not have to be hospitalized, and we are still making ends meet.  We are so blessed.  I am surrounded by strong caring women that make my life so much easier

Do I miss working outside the home?  Some days.  But probably not for the reasons anyone would guess.  I know that absolutely nothing can replace my time here.  The spilled milk, sticky hands, broken crayons, and scattered toys will be a distant blur one day.  I would not trade spending these days with my children for anything.  So, as for the rest of the world, they can wait.

I realize not all moms feel the way I do, and that’s okay.  Hey, we are all here in the weeds together.

So grab yourself a bite of chocolate, put in Steel Magnolias, and have a happy Mother’s Day!