This year I have had the opportunity to be a part of a BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) group locally. I'll admit, I was a bit nervous about joining at first.... most of the people I talked to either HATED it or LOVED it. There was no in between. I started the semester reserved, and have really grown to look forward to my Wednesday morning studies with my group. My boys love it too, which is an added bonus.
One of the things I have loved about BSF is that I am in a group that is the perfect mixture of young and old. There are enough young moms that I don't feel out of touch, but there are seasoned veterans there as well, and they are not shy about sharing their opinions :) There have been several instances when one of us young moms will sigh about how dirty our house is, or how we don't have as much time to devote to the study. And almost all of the seasoned veterans quickly chirp back "one day your house will be clean and you'll have no one to pick up after. And you'll HATE it. You'll wish you had someone to pick up after, and you wish you had someone to make noise." This has been said more than once, so I have to think that they're pretty adamantly behind their belief that I'll someday hate having a clean house. It's made me think a lot about my job right now as a mom.
Sometimes I begrudge how Cinderella-ish being a stay at home mom really is (and I don't mean the Cinderella that was at the ball at the castle... I mean the Cinderella that was cleaning and scrubbing and just a plain ol' maid). Most days I can find myself on the floor scrubbing up food crumbs or spilled milk, I wipe bottoms endlessly throughout the day, I break up fights and teach manners (and mostly feel like my teachings and commands fall on deaf ears), my laundry multiplies before my eyes, the cooking is never ending (and usually is welcomed by a chorus of "I don't like this" unless it is highly tainted with preservatives and fake cheese). Let's face it... that list is less than appealing if someone was looking for glitz and glamour (not that I was looking for glitz and glamour, but it'd be nice to be able to shower regularly and not have to worry about poopy diapers every now and again). And yet, when I find myself mumbling to myself about the crumbs on the ground, I hear those sweet women in my study saying "one day you'll hate that clean house. Don't worry about it right now."
For all of the monotony of being a stay at home mom, the moments are fleeting and priceless. I keep trying to press record in my mind when I hear the laughter and giggles, see the hugs and kisses, get the requests for snuggles and book readings, and hear the questions about things that I just walk by not thinking anything about. Each day I have to choose to embrace the Cinderella life. To be ok with wearing sweats most days, be ok with not being able to shower on somedays, be ok with ridding the floors of crumbs while on my hands and knees, be ok with the messes and noise. I have to remember that even Cinderella, eventually one day, had her princess moment. And I'm sure that when I finally get that one day, I'll hate it, and wish for these messy moments back.
israel; the start. Pre-pandemic
3 years ago
