Mother, oh mother, come shake out your cloth!
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking!
Oh, cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
But children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust, go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby. Babies don’t keep.
-Babies Don’t Keep {Nancy Holzman}
Sometimes I feel I cannot even blink or else I will miss all the goodness and sweetness that is showered upon me … I know this time as a family time goes by so quickly … and the magic or my ordinary days – filled with newborn snuggles, meal makings, laundry piles, snowy boots and homeschooling are so special … each day holds little moments of wonder and love, trials and challenges, but then blessings and well, wonderful-ness.
Since becoming a wife and mother many years ago, the world and all its shiny trappings has slowly faded into the background and my home and family life has come into clear focus.
Quite simply, it was only yesterday that my eldest child was the little baby in arms – and now, nearly 19 years later, we have a house full of little and middle and big children-blessings. There is not mistaking that it is a busy, sometimes exhausting, life – however, don’t wish these days away, fellow mother, as they slowly and eventually slip away like pearls on a broken string …
Now with seven daughters and three little boys under our roof, our hands and hearts are truly full.
“The family is the first essential cell of human society.” –Pope John XXIII
This time around, I don’t need anyone to remind me how special it is to have a newborn to hold – or to watch your children love on the newest member of the family. There are never enough hours in the day to make the rounds of baby-holding .. did everyone get a chance to cuddle Lariah?
I’m holding tight to these special-yet-ordinary days and loving the non-ordinary life that the Lord has given us.
by Gigi
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