M is for [NOT] Murdering your Children

One of the goals I have for my blog is to keep it real. So I’m going to be real here. There are days.  You know the ones I mean.  Days where you’re positive that a jury of your peers, your real peers, the stay-at-home-homeschooling-mom peers, would find homicide of your offspring justifiable.

A favorite quote of mine is “The days are long but the years are short.”   I loved that phrase.  Those days when I had only little ones and they all needed me.  Four of them, one of me and no helpers.  The day seemed to drag on and on and on forever. How soon until Daddy gets home?  What??!! It’s only been minutes?  But the baby’s found the cat litter and the preschooler found the scissors and one twin got lost somewhere between the kitchen and the dining room while pushing her screaming twin in the baby seat. 

I can laugh now.  I assure you I wasn’t laughing then.  I was thinking murderous thoughts as I collapsed on the kitchen floor and sobbed.  Dinner not made.  Laundry not folded. The baby (who was really a toddler) needing a bath.  The preschooler with no bangs.  (At least she still had hair.  And yes I did put those scissors out of her reach!  I just didn’t realize she was crafty and determined and that she would find a chair, push it over to the table and climb up on the table to reach the scissors).

Temper Tantrums. Not sure whose are worse.  Mine or my daughters’.  Believe me there have been 100’s of them over the years.  Maybe my title should be “M is for [not]Murdering each other.”  Oh how they would fight with each other and I would want to (oh yes did I want to!) wring their little necks!

Sometimes I wonder how we made it through.  How did we survive?  How did my now 18 year old daughter and my 14 year old daughter manage to live to these ripe old ages?  I was nearly certain that one of them would murder the other when they had to share a room.

I think I know I the answer.  Prayer, tea, and naps.  Lots of prayers.  Mostly “Lord, help me!” type of prayers but they were real and they were true and they were from my heart.  And tea (a good British blend with milk and sugar please!) and naps. 

Naps were a double edged sword though.  Naps preserved my sanity which saved me from murdering those darling babies, but there was a price to pay.  Naps restored their energy.  Naps were necessary because without them, the behavior would get even worse, but with them?  That’s how they managed to have the energy to devise plans where they climbed the furniture and jumped on the bed.

I am grateful that through prayer, naps, and relaxing tea that I didn’t murder my children, however, tempting that may have been, because they’ve grown into lovely wonderful young women.  I am so blessed to be their mother and to see them reach for their dreams. I don’t miss cleaning up cat litter covered toddlers though I do miss those toddler snuggles.  I’m glad I had them.

Check out this week’s letter!