A friend sent me this quote earlier this week:
“If I cannot give my children a perfect mother I can at least give them more of the one they've got--and make that one more loving. I will be available. I will take time to listen, time to play, time to be home when they arrive from school, time to counsel and encourage.”
― Ruth Bell Graham
It came right after a really hard day with these two Monkeys. And was perfect... because as soon as I read the quote I remembered multiple times throughout the day that I had heard the words "Momma hold me" with chubby fingers outstretched... and to my sadness I had answered with some version of "Momma needs to finish doing _____, so go play by yourself right now."
Praying to be a more present Momma. To hold them when they need to be held. To play with puzzles. To get down on the floor to build block towers. To squeeze two quickly growing girls onto my lap to read their favorite books...
To be here in these moments. Before I miss them all, because I just had to get the dishes done, or something equally unimportant. I HAVE to learn to balance the to-do list with "giving them more of the Mom they've got."
I'm so with you on this!! It's definitely hard to learn the balance. And I don't know about you but my kids seem fine without my constant attention until I'm doing something else :o)
ReplyDeletePraying for you!!!!
They're fine without my attention but then they start to get whiny because I push it too far... we can go all morning with me bustling in and out of the kitchen or laundry room and then I realize that it's already lunchtime and naptime and I haven't even played with them! So I definitely need to grow in this area. Instead of getting impatient when they start to whine I should use that as a trigger to stop what I'm doing and give them some Mom-time. Even if it's only ten minutes! Even if that means it'll take me an hour to do the dishes ;o)
Deletemade me cry Jess- (what a surprise, right?)
ReplyDeletethey love you and they need YOU --way more than they need clean dishes, clothes or most anything else...all that independence can get pretty scary sometimes and the 10 mins you mentioned will go a long way toward making them feel safe to venture "out" again. YOU are the most important 'thing' in their little lives right now.
Keep up the good mommying, DiL
xoxoxoxox
Thanks MIL! It's true. They seem to get through the day better when I've given them Mommy-Time-Breaks throughout the day. And seeing their smiles is better than hearing their whines ;o) XOXO
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