Mommy and Me...(with Daddy too!): A New Normal

Today, Judah is four weeks old. Four weeks! It seems like no time at all, but then also like forever. This week was different for us as a family, because it was the first week of our new normal, with Andrew working Monday-Friday, and me at home with the kids. All THREE of them. I know lots of moms with four, five, and six kids, so three might not seem like very many to them, but to me, this is a 33% increase in offspring to look after and raise. (And that seems like a lot to me!!)

For weeks 1-3, I had lots of help. Andrew had paternal leave for a couple weeks, my mom came for a week, and it was all wonderful. However, I started to feel inklings of panic in week three, knowing that reality was about to set in on my new normal as a mom.

I was looking at the endless-seeming amount of days in front of me now, raising three boys. So many hours to fill playing, soothing, refereeing, reading, changing diapers and wiping bums, and playing, playing, and more playing. These long days of play have always been challenging for me (see these posts on more of that: Mommy Meltdown and Worn Knees), but I have definitely seen a lot of growth in that area for myself. However, we have been looking forward to Judah's arrival for so long, the past several months were spent geared towards his birth, even in the midst of all the play. Now that he's here, I was struggling to see what there was to look forward to now.

As I turned these thoughts over Jesus, he gently and softly reminded me that my role as Mommy to these boys is so much more than just playing and surviving each day.

They are really only in my care for a such a short time, and each day, one day at a time, I am able to teach, train, instruct, and guide them--towards Jesus and His ways, to love others and be kind, to be honorable and truthful, to work hard and always do your best. Many lessons will come through, and in the midst of play, so the hours of play need not be wasted.

Some days will be better than others. Some will be really good, but some will be really hard. I will seeking to not look at the hundreds of days before me, but to take each day one. at. a. time.

In this time of being needed by three little ones, and in days that can seem so long yet go so fast, I want to cherish today. THIS day, regardless of how it feels in the moment.

And now it's Friday! I survived my first week on my own, and you know what? One day at a time, we had a good week together, my three boys and I--even with lots of messy moments scattered in the midst of it all.

It's our new normal. And it's good. :)