The rest of the pantry will have to wait.
It's definitely time to get rid of some of the cooking magazines I've had sitting around for a few years. I started removing all the recipes I'll want to keep in a separate notebook once I get one, then I'll send the magazines on to my neighbor.
All I can say is that if I could bend over, had more energy and didn't risk going into labor (ok, labor at this point wouldn't be the worst thing!) I would have one clean and organized house right now!
Given the nature of real life and real children, this perfect parenthood experience eludes even the most prepared among us. Yet the expectation endures, alongside our cultural assumption that fulfillment lies in maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. The result is a growing number of adults for whom the perfect time to have children never arrives.
Childless adults miss the drudgery of parenting: the 3 a.m. wake-up calls, the terrible twos, the tantrums in stores, diaper disasters and teenage angst. They also miss those breathtaking moments that sneak up on parents amid the daily grind: the surprise of that first smile, the thrill of those first steps, the wonder of realizing that this little person has captured your heart in a way that will leave you forever changed, and that despite the trail of chaos he has cut through your once-orderly existence, you cannot fathom life without him.
Those moments sound trite to skeptics and count for little in a cost-benefit analysis. But for those who trade their fantasies of perfect parenthood for the messy reality of life with little people, the mystery unveiled in those moments — that genuine joy springs from sacrifice — makes it all worthwhile.
Very well said! Tis very true, little people are not easy to raise but is it worth it? Yes. Does it please God? Yes. Yes, there are days when I don't know how I'm gonna make it through. When everything is a fight with Lily and at times even Clara. Days when bed time can't come soon enough. When I feel like (ok, know that) my brain and body have turned to mush and all I know how to do now is wash diapers, dishes and spaghetti faces and suddenly one of my babies will melt my heart, make me so proud or give me such a laugh and I realize that those are the things that matter.
Those are moments God has given just to me by giving me these particular children to raise and I would never have known these moments if I had "decided" not to carry them, bare them and raise them. How could I have ever said "No" to all this? And truly even if these wonderful moments don't occur God still gives children to parents and because He does it is still good, meaningful and worthwhile to bring them into the world and raise them.
Lily and Tummy Baby G, August 2010
Baby Lily and Tummy Clara, May 2009
Phil let the girls walk with him to the post office the other day.
In ten years it will be pictures like this that will make me all teary remembering how small our little girls were...
Sigh...
Hmmm, I hope I don't offend anyone but I came across this blog post today and got a pretty good laugh. Viewer discretion is advised!
This winter I thought for SURE I'd be outside all day, everyday once it warmed up around here. Well, the warm (HOT) weather has come and some days it's all I can do to make myself take the girls out on the porch to blow bubbles. I do try to take a little walk in the mornings before it gets to warm. Pathetic, I know. Maybe (hopefully) it's just the pregnancy but I can't take the "warmth" for very long at all! The other problems have been the 35 mph winds we typically can have up here and the roaming babies who want to be everywhere they aren't supposed to be. Ok, I think I'm done complaining.
I was pretty impressed though when I saw how Lily had arranged the Holy Family etc all around Jesus.
After a lot of crying I broke down and we got outside. I didn't have enough energy for full out pool time so I let girls get wet (and muddy) with a little water, some bowls, spoons and cups, such a good time!
We have one more week before we leave on vacation and really I'm feeling the need to have just that!
The rest of the pantry will have to wait.
It's definitely time to get rid of some of the cooking magazines I've had sitting around for a few years. I started removing all the recipes I'll want to keep in a separate notebook once I get one, then I'll send the magazines on to my neighbor.
All I can say is that if I could bend over, had more energy and didn't risk going into labor (ok, labor at this point wouldn't be the worst thing!) I would have one clean and organized house right now!
Given the nature of real life and real children, this perfect parenthood experience eludes even the most prepared among us. Yet the expectation endures, alongside our cultural assumption that fulfillment lies in maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. The result is a growing number of adults for whom the perfect time to have children never arrives.
Childless adults miss the drudgery of parenting: the 3 a.m. wake-up calls, the terrible twos, the tantrums in stores, diaper disasters and teenage angst. They also miss those breathtaking moments that sneak up on parents amid the daily grind: the surprise of that first smile, the thrill of those first steps, the wonder of realizing that this little person has captured your heart in a way that will leave you forever changed, and that despite the trail of chaos he has cut through your once-orderly existence, you cannot fathom life without him.
Those moments sound trite to skeptics and count for little in a cost-benefit analysis. But for those who trade their fantasies of perfect parenthood for the messy reality of life with little people, the mystery unveiled in those moments — that genuine joy springs from sacrifice — makes it all worthwhile.
Very well said! Tis very true, little people are not easy to raise but is it worth it? Yes. Does it please God? Yes. Yes, there are days when I don't know how I'm gonna make it through. When everything is a fight with Lily and at times even Clara. Days when bed time can't come soon enough. When I feel like (ok, know that) my brain and body have turned to mush and all I know how to do now is wash diapers, dishes and spaghetti faces and suddenly one of my babies will melt my heart, make me so proud or give me such a laugh and I realize that those are the things that matter.
Those are moments God has given just to me by giving me these particular children to raise and I would never have known these moments if I had "decided" not to carry them, bare them and raise them. How could I have ever said "No" to all this? And truly even if these wonderful moments don't occur God still gives children to parents and because He does it is still good, meaningful and worthwhile to bring them into the world and raise them.
Lily and Tummy Baby G, August 2010Baby Lily and Tummy Clara, May 2009Phil let the girls walk with him to the post office the other day.In ten years it will be pictures like this that will make me all teary remembering how small our little girls were...Sigh...Hmmm, I hope I don't offend anyone but I came across this blog post today and got a pretty good laugh. Viewer discretion is advised!This winter I thought for SURE I'd be outside all day, everyday once it warmed up around here. Well, the warm (HOT) weather has come and some days it's all I can do to make myself take the girls out on the porch to blow bubbles. I do try to take a little walk in the mornings before it gets to warm. Pathetic, I know. Maybe (hopefully) it's just the pregnancy but I can't take the "warmth" for very long at all! The other problems have been the 35 mph winds we typically can have up here and the roaming babies who want to be everywhere they aren't supposed to be. Ok, I think I'm done complaining.I was pretty impressed though when I saw how Lily had arranged the Holy Family etc all around Jesus.After a lot of crying I broke down and we got outside. I didn't have enough energy for full out pool time so I let girls get wet (and muddy) with a little water, some bowls, spoons and cups, such a good time!We have one more week before we leave on vacation and really I'm feeling the need to have just that!
