Most days are not made up of big words. There are little girls in their pink summer shoes who smile and say “hi” a hundred times because it’s the only word they know. There are boys who are as loud and rough and crazed as their sister is gentle. There is a dog and a hamster and a house that exhales with fresh paint and new tiles in places.
Most days are not poster-worthy or Pinterest-worthy.
Most days are rough around the edges and messy toward the end.
Most days are ringed in layers of ordinary stories that sound anything but ordinary because of the wonder of hearing them from a nearly-seven-year old.
Sometimes carpets get shampooed.
Sometimes all the dishes get washed.
Sometimes someone cries; sometimes we all scream at once and I wonder if being an empty-nester can be all that bad.
Most days are a rinse and repeat of the day before unless we bend down real close and get a good whiff of the moment. That bunk bed they still just fit into. That Verlander T-Shirt. That pair of black high tops and the four wrist bands he’s been wearing around his ankle for going on two months now. How he researches the dog. How she wrinkles her nose and exhales loudly.
This is my DNA.
Hardly worth writing down, so simple.
So utterly, riveting.
What have your most days looked like lately?
Mandy Scarr
LOL Loved this! Ordinary days are beautiful, and usually wearisome in the moment. But trust me, you will look back and be glad you marked this ordinary.
I love this post. It’s so refreshing and real. My kids are 1 and 3 so, most days are simple, sweet and challenging. Tonight while I was making dinner, I stopped to breath in what was really happening around me. My 1 year old was trying to “help” me unload the dishwasher and with every glass cup that she lifted, I felt myself cringe. Yet, I wanted her to be involved and I couldn’t tell her no. On the other side of the kitchen, my 3 year old was sitting on his fire truck, sliding a go-fish card through the alphabet letter magnet thingy on the fridge. Apparently the card was his debit card and he was paying for his groceries.
So, life is full, not boring and as much as it stresses me out sometimes, I do love it.
I have a line I put in my journal (one of those couple of sentences a day ones) most days:
“School-Chores-Life”.
It can be hard to find what was unique in a day filled with “normalcy” but the very fact that it was “normal” can be so nice!
We are knee deep in potty training, so I spend every day saying, “Do you need to go pee pee?” a million times! Yesterday the 2 month old fell asleep in one arm as I cleaned pee off the floor with the other! So blessed to have a baby that can do that.
May i be truly sincere?
Lately it is very hard…… I am very tired and have lot of problems with my two little girls (3 and 6)… they do not sleep through tne night…. they are very confrontational…… very demanding…. and I am so angry….
I am through a new path with God…. but it is so hard…… and I am so angry…
Sorry for my sadness…
Maddalena
Maddalena, I’m so sorry to hear you’re going through a tough time. May I pray for you, please?
Thank you very much Claire…..
Yes please pray for me and my two little girls… I know that it will help…..
You know it is very difficuilt too because I am all by myself through this journey with God….. Here in Italy it is very difficult to find people with a deep faith……. It is more easy to say that you habe faith just in words and not in acts….
An it is easier to give everything to their baby but only material things and not true love… understanding and a discipline that they can understrand…..
Sorry… I’ve been bitter again.
Cheers
Maddalena
Maddalena,
I’ve been through some very tough times when my son was first born(now 9 1/2!). I felt as if a physical, dark cloud was pushing down on my head day and night. It DOES get better. Others of us are praying for you. You will come out the other side the better for it!
Lisa
Hey! I’ll pray too. Not easy, but give Him your anger. He made you emotional and He understands more than you give Him credit for – He got emotional too – look at the chaps selling their wares in the temple! Kinda found out the Hard Way!
I had a good internal yell and cry at God on Sunday, apologised and thanked Him for having my best at heart, asked Him to help me cope and felt much better when I woke up on Monday.
He doesn’t judge us. He helps us. He says we’re not to sin in our anger… not we mustn’t be angry.
Thanks Jenn….,
I know that God is very understanding and emotional… I am trying very hard through prayers and learning His word…..
I know that If only I would be able to cool down….
All your prayers will be welcome…
Maddalena
I will pray for you too, Maddalena. I too have had seasons when I find myself being angry-mommy more often than not, and I hate it! Those little boogers sure know how to get under our skin, don’t they? This verse has been helpful for me:
“The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” Proverbs 14:1
I have it on a sticky note on my mirror, so I see it first thing in the morning. When I start to feel the anger burning in my chest, it helps me to stop from tearing down my house. Much love, my sister in Christ!
Cats. Words. Plans.
Ah! I’ll spend that day with you!!!
Oh, yes, and this is so alright! So beautifully, all right
LOVE those pics! Miss you x
It’s great that you are celebrating the ordinary days. They make the empty nest all the more rewarding for having lived and cherished them.
Oh how beautiful! These simple “ordinary” days are the best. They are the backbones of our life… the very essence of who we are. I wouldn’t trade any of my everyday- ordinary- life days for anything in the world… they are truly the sweetest of them all.
Ah, but these days are the best . . . and especially in the lazier, slower days of summer when we can find that wonder in the ordinary. Aren’t they the memories from our own childhoods that we love the best?