I cleaned today.
A lot.
Like, from the time I woke up until...well...I'm writing now, but only because I'm waiting on the dryer. Which just made a noise so I'm sort of avoiding it.
I'm achy and bitchy and I can't wait to take my kids to their grandma's house tomorrow so I can sit down.
But, now thinking about them being gone for the next few days makes me miss them. Since I have complained so much this week, here are some sweet things that make me happy to be a mommy...
Emma is learning how to spell. It's adorable. Everywhere I look, I see little signs she's made for me that say "I <3 U Mommy". They are on every wall, on my bedroom door, on the bathroom cabinets, on the posts surrounding the wood stove, on the computer monitor and her sheets. Awwww....
I have a huge marker board in the hall that I filled with a huge list of things to do before Christmas. When I went to check it this evening, Dalton had drawn a heart with two people inside labeled "mommy" and "Dalton". Double awwww because he's a boy.
Every evening at dinner, we take turns saying one thing we are thankful for and one nice thing about the person next to us. Tonight, Emma said "I like mommy because, when I was in her tummy, I loved her so much and I remember that and it's not any different now because I love her still." OMGSHE'SSOCUTE.
When we got in the car this evening, a Christmas CD was playing (one that I am ready to break in half if I have to hear it again, by the way), and all six of them, including Huston who hates to sing, belted out "Blue Christmas", which, if you've never heard six kids singing Elvis, you're missing an important life moment.
My sister came home yesterday for Christmas, and we stopped by to say hi to her and her husband and son, and as we pulled in the drive, Warrick said "Mommy, I have this weird feeling in my throat...I think I might cry tears of joy."
Warrick is my oldest at ten, and he has been giving me a least three hugs a day. And he's a boy. Hugging his mom. On purpose. I don't know why, but one doesn't question these things.
Huston told me that, even thought I dress like a nineteen year old boy, I'm still kinda' pretty.
Madilynn organized her bedroom today, and I realized again what a little mini-me she is...she hates cleaning, but she will organize the heck out of anything.
One of my mothers in law (yes, I have two) asked the kids why they cared if my sister's new baby would be a boy or a girl, since it would be too young to matter. They were highly offended by the thought that a cousin was "too young" and made declarations all around about how "cool" their other baby cousins are and even went so far as to point out the personality differences in the many babies in our family. I heart this mucho, yo.
At dinner tonight, I asked them about the true meaning of Christmas. Madi stood up in her chair and said "It's about Baby Jesus and nothing else!!!"
All of my kids miss their dad like crazy and are so excited that they actually get to go see him this week. That is one thing I love about them...their capacity for complete forgiveness and forgetfulness of the things that have gone wrong.
Another thing is how hard they try not to let me know how excited they are because they think it will hurt my feelings. They also plan out my time away from them so I won't miss them as much. Once, Dalton even went through my contacts in my phone to find someone for me to hang out with.
So, yes, I complain and I get grouchy and angry, but I love being a mommy, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
