#blessed
/
Monday was a surprise.
Just a normal Monday. Nothing on the calendar (except, of
course, "The Voice").
Nothing much for dinner (except for homemade Butternut
Squash Soup and some salad).
Really, nothing going on at all (except for the usual homework/laundry/Monday stuff).
Until Daughter #1 bursts through my front door all smiles
(as usual) and a huge, “Hello!”
Suddenly my day was no longer just . . . usual.
She plops down on a stool at the counter and begins to
recount her really terrible, awful, horrible, no good, very bad day. (It really
was.)
This kid. Even though her day had cost her some serious
money (hello, new brakes!) and a doctor visit, she still burst through the door
as she always does—with an effervescent “Hello!”
She reminds me that I am blessed.
Daughter #1 leaves for a dinner appointment, and daughter #2
calls: “I’m coming for dinner.”
Yes you are, sweet girl. Even though it’s just soup and
salad and an ordinary Monday night, you are always welcome to drop in and eat
with us.
Suddenly my day is getting even better.
I quickly shout to Daughter #3 who's upstairs: “Hey, Caroline’s coming for dinner and it’s her half birthday today! Would you
please run to the store to get a cake?”
All hands on deck now. Julia whisks away with her keys and
my debit card.
Suddenly we’re having a party.
B comes home, the girls walk in, and just as the four of us
are making our way to the table, Kate glides back in the door having just
finished her appointment.
Suddenly, the five of us are standing around the kitchen
island, each one talking over the other (I swear we should have been Greek, or
at the very least Italian) and I have an out-of-body moment. Everyone is
shouting to be heard, the noise level is just about at peak capacity--even the
dog is excited!--and I realize that we are here.
Together.
All five of us.
Completely unexpected.
And I smile because I know, in that brief moment, how very
blessed I am.
*****
We have a joke in our house about the #blessed thing on
Instagram. We’re nothing if not a little bit snarky and the “blessed” hashtag
really brings out the full-on snark sometimes.
Got an A on a paper? #blessed
No traffic today? #blessed
Hey! Some mom on Facebook got her kid to use the big potty!
#blessed
My Christmas shopping is done before Halloween! #blessed
(And also? #ihateyou)
Sometimes I feel like telling people like the guy in The
Princess Bride did: “Idonotthinkthatmeanswhatyouthinkitmeans.”
But these people standing around my kitchen island all
talking over each other, competing for each other’s attention, telling about
our days?
That’s a stop-in-mid-sentence-and-hover-over-this-one-for-a-while
moment.
I know I am blessed in so many ways, but I don’t equate
blessing with material goods or my behavior or even the behavior of my kids. In
fact, the idea of #blessing is sometimes confusing to me, elusive even. I’m not
sure I fully get it.
I know I don’t always see it. (My sarcasm assures me of
that.)
But every once in a while I am able to step out of myself
and realize the greatest blessings are right in front of me—a wonderfully
impromptu family gathering on a random and very usual Monday night with the
four most important people in the world to me.
It makes me want to cry I am so #blessed.
*****
Here’s something else I thought about later that night after
all of my people had gone back to their respective homes and bedrooms: you
mamas who don’t feel so #blessed right now.
Those of you who are scrambling to come up with Halloween
costumes two days before the event. (Just one of the 1,656 reasons I hate
Halloween.)
Those of you who just cannot get your three-year-old to use
that big potty.
Those of you whose husbands put in long hours at work and
come home tired and maybe a little bit cranky and who just might need a night off from
putting the kids to bed so you step in and try your best to be cheerful about
it.
Those of you who tried to scrape together something
resembling “dinner” when you are two days away from payday and not much left in
the pantry or in the bank account.
I get it all.
How many mamas are going to bed worn out, depleted,
wondering if anyone will ever notice all the work you do or if these kids will
always be so draining or if you’ll ever get a good night’s sleep?
Can I just whisper some encouragement in your ear?
They do notice, whether they tell you or not.
They won’t always drain you. In fact, some day they will
thank you.
You will sleep again.
And one day, when you least expect it, on a random Monday
night, your beloved ones (who are, by now, potty trained) will light up your kitchen and you’ll have an out of
body experience and you’ll realize that your entire life has been one very huge,
totally amazing, incredibly undeserved #blessing.
*****
