The Gift of the First Day

My Mom did everything in the 3 weeks that she was here. Laundry, housework, dressing and bathing kids, cooking, dishes and grocery shopping. I laid around, and just in the last week or so started helping with some light housework, but for the most part I rested and took care of the baby.

The night before she had to leave, we went to Rudy's for a little dinner splurge and our "last supper".

 The realization of all that she did--and all I didn't do--while she was here started to set in and I began to panic. How will I keep up with everything she did while she was here and care for a newborn at the same time? 3 kids is a whole new ballgame, and up until now it's been great because I haven't done anything but take care of myself, my little baby and some light housework once in a while.

When I picked up a screaming Nathan out of his crib the next morning, I prayed that God would help me with the day. I was dreading it, which sounds pathetic because there are a million and one Mom's around the universe who parent more than three children every single day. I am justifying my less than courages approach by telling myself that it was new to me and I had never experienced it before. And yes, there were tears. I missed my Mom and I was scared of what the day would hold.

The Lord obviously heard my prayers. Nathan took a long morning nap while the other kids and I ate breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, straightened the house and did some laundry. He woke up, ate and happily sat in his little basket while we moved on to making, eating and cleaning up lunch.

After lunch I sat outside and watched the kids play. While Nathan slept in his car seat, Brooke and Joe ran up and down the sidewalk, took off their shoes after they got wet in the mud, and balanced on one leg. It all felt so--normal. Natural, peaceful and almost too good to be true. 

This one took a 3.5 hour nap in the basket, which is VERY rare for him. He's a good sleeper but pretty much eats every 2 hours and doesn't skip a feeding. While he slept, the other kids took great naps and I relaxed, straightened up a little more and smiled a lot.

Why was I surprised when he slept and slept? Or when he was awake and contentedly laid there, observing the world around him?

Why was I surprised when the played sweetly, loved each other and obeyed cheerfully? Haven't I learned that God gives us what we need each and every day? He knew what I needed on that first daunting day of being a Mom of three. I kept waiting for the meltdown, to be pulled in 3 different directions and have to chose which catastrophe to deal with first. It didn't happen, not on that first day.

I didn't have to worry about dinner, since we had leftover sauce that my Mom made. So I guess she was still with us in spirit, and boy did we enjoy that!

 The long naps, the hugs and kisses, the sweet spirits, the housework done, the baths given--there was not one stressful moment in the whole day. Anyone who is a Mom knows that there is usually a moment in a day when you've had it UP TO HERE but on that first day I didn't have one. It was sunshine and roses, really. 

I crawled into bed that night and thanked the Lord for his help that day. The awesome thing is that it's still going really well, despite a few poopy diaper blowouts, a messy house that had to stay that way for a little while as I took care of kids and a basket of clean laundry that still needs to be folded and put away. But God gave me that perfect first day and I'll forever be grateful to him for that incredible gift. I should have never doubted that with his grace we would settle into a perfectly normal routine that feels so natural it could have always been this way.