A Mom's Life is Full of Urgent Tasks

Everything a mom has to do is urgent. It all needs to be done NOW.

The broken glass needs to be swept up NOW, before someone cuts their feet.

The toddler needs to be caught NOW, lest he think that shouting "no" and running away is an acceptable response.

The soup needs to be stirred NOW, before it burns to the bottom of the pan.

The baby needs to be fed NOW, or the squawking will drive us all crazy.

The reading lesson needs to be taught NOW, before my homeschool looses its credibility because my six year old doesn't read.

The scraped knee needs to be bandaged NOW, because there will be no psychological peace until that is done.

The bedtime routine needs to start NOW, or else the young ones will be bears tomorrow.

The shoes need to go on NOW or we will be late for church/story hour/the pediatrician.

But what about all the things that are not urgent? Like self-care? Like cuddles? Like cleaning the floors and cutting the peanut-butter sandwiches into cute shapes? What about bubble baths and novels? That's the stuff life is made of! How can I complete the mountain of urgent tasks without becoming urgent myself?

And failing at that, how can I cultivate peace in the rush of NOW?

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Our Potty Training Journey

February 2010 GOAL: My initial goal was to introduce Soren to the toilet and make it a fun place to sit. I have to admit that I also hoped that we would have some fortunate "accidents" that would lead to potty training success. STRATEGY: My plan was to sit Soren on the toilet once a day and read him a couple of stories. If he peed, I was planning to give him a candy. THE BAD NEWS: The candy totally backfired. The one time that he peed on the toilet, I gave him a candy and he had a full-on tantrum begging for more. If I ever told him "When you pee on the potty, you can have a candy", he would begin screaming for the treat and be unable to focus on the toilet training. THE GOOD NEWS: Soren was not afraid of sitting on the big toilet. He actually really enjoyed it (when I was reading stories and not pimping rewards) and started asking to sit there any time his butt was bare. J June 2010 GOAL: My goal was to potty train Soren within the month of June

Milestone: New Syllable

This feels like such a silly thing to report about but it's got me tickled pink. Today Soren learned, what I feel, is the most important of all the English syllables: "ma". And it's about time. After months and months of hearing nothing but "da da da da" all day long, it's a refreshing change. I'm pretty sure that "da da" and "ma ma" don't correlate to anything in his mind yet. Still, he's that much closer to calling me his "mama" and I can't say the approximations don't warm my heart.

Cake for Breakfast!

I was getting dressed when it suddenly got very quiet out in the living room. Soren had been contentedly babbling a moment ago and now it was silent. I'm sure you can imagine me, rushing half-panted down the hall, hoping nothing horrible had happened. At our last visit, my pediatrician filled my mind with horror stories of infant death; now gruesome scenes were flipping through my mind like a slide show on speed. Or like the scary tunnel in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". Expecting a disaster, I was relieved when this was what I saw in the living room: The night before, I'd left a slice of left-over cake on the arm chair. We'd had company and Soren had been in bed. When I'd forgotten it at the end of the evening, it had been far from my son's greedy grasp. But this morning, when it was still left behind, it was within easy baby reach and too unusual for him not to explore. No wonder he was so quiet! He'd been experimenting with an unk

Mom Remembers

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