The Sun Will Come Out

Yesterday was The. Worst. Day. Ever. You know those days where nothing seems to go right from the minute your sleep-filled eyes open until the late night hours when you are finally able to rest your weary head once again?

For the majority of the time, we are a happy family. My blog focuses on those happier times because I want to reminiscence about those moments rather than the opposite.

Motherhood has its daily challenges and worries on top of your everyday life. We all know it  can not be 100% perfect all of the time. There are days when you want to run to your bedroom and lock the door refusing entry to any living creature until the following sunrise!  

It's those same lovely creatures, however, that encourages you to continue on.

Responsibility calls your name 24 hours a day when you are a mother. Sickness does not wait for a convenient time. There are no vacations. You can not just put life on pause because you are tired and want a nap. There is no questioning that these little people rely on you.

So what happened yesterday? Well, the twins were very uncooperative with going to the bathroom. From the moment we woke up, I spent every bathroom run (x 2) cleaning up their accidents from the floor in front of the toilet. The crying that ensued because they were upset they had an accident seemed to last until the next episode.

Evangeline was a complete cranky pants, also. She seemed very irritable and would not sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time even though I could tell she was tired. I contributed it to the amount of Easter chocolate I have consumed in the past week. So, no chocolate for Mama yesterday. Boo! Thankfully, once nighttime arrived she slept peacefully. Yea!

On top of the chaos happening around me, I have had a sinus infection with terrible pain around my eyes, coughing and headaches for most of the week. Ugh. It is not much fun taking care of this large household when all I wanted to do was curl up under a comforter and sleep.

Plus, yesterday I decided to take on the project of bringing all the Spring clothes out of the attic to swap with the Winter stuff. With eight people's worth of clothing, it was no tiny task. It looked like a clothing bomb blew up my upstairs rooms and it was not giving any mercy. I almost hoisted a white flag in surrender but decided to tackle the project anyway.

I figured I would try to make the most of a crazy day that was making me incredibly irritable as the day progressed. I made a batch of quick trail mix to calm the masses. Pulled out a library book to read to them, which almost brought me to tears considering how my own day was going. I spent some time nursing Eva on the sofa, wrapped in blankets, listening to the rain outside and the flutter of our butterflies' wings inside. We ordered dinner. Then, Mike watched the girls downstairs so I could reign in the clothing disaster from earlier in the day.

After such a bad day, we had a relatively calm evening that left the house clean(er) with children in much better moods than they began the day with. Still, that did not change my mood much. I was still grumpy and my head still felt like it would explode from the next cough.

I just wanted a few moments to myself. Sometimes that is all it takes: A 10 minute shower without any little ones knocking on the door, an hour after the house is quiet to watch a favorite show, 30 minutes before sleep lying in bed with a cool breeze spilling over your head, reading a book by the dim light on your nightstand.  

Every mom needs and deserves those moments in their day to recharge. It is a must!

What did I do last night to recharge? I busted out the yeast and flour and my favorite Italian bread recipe and made two loaves of bread at 10:30 at night. My kind of therapy, I suppose. Then, I crawled into bed next to my husband with our latest book club choice and read a few chapters, nursing our gorgeous little girl before falling asleep myself.

I feel much better today.  There is still chaos, but less intense than yesterday. On days when I am feeling depressed, or sick, or when things are just are not going according to plan I have to consider the alternatives...

and realize I am truly one of the luckiest Mamas around.  

"So live it well, make it count,
fill it up with you.
The day's all yours, it's waiting now...
See what you can do." 
 
-Cynthia Rylant from All In A Day