All in a day’s work

I am currently watching Oprah.  If you watch than you know who Nate is, if not, he is Oprah’s go-to guy for any type of decorating project.  On this show, however, Nate took over the life of a stay at home mom of three kids so mom could get a much needed break from her hectic life.  Nate is not married, has no children, and had no idea what he was in for.  It was actually really sweet.  It reminded me a lot of my days as she had three kids, two of which were in school, and one toddler who was home with her during the day.  Nate faced his day head on and as soon as mom left he was on his own to take kids to school, change diapers, pick up dry cleaning, make lunches and dinner, get haircuts, pick kids up, etc etc.  I watched and laughed.  For one thing, the two year old was absolutely adorable!  At one point Nate was asking him for directions back to the house and wouldn’t you know it, the little guy was right!!!  Just proves toddlers know more than you think.  But I also watched and wondered how Nate would feel at the end of the day and what, if anything, he might forget to do.  Well, he forgot a few things, like feeding the toddler lunch before he fell asleep, or “making” dinner rather than ordering out. 

Anyway, watching the show got me thinking how lucky I am.  At the end of the day Nate was tired, but he said he felt full, like this is what life is about.  I know I have my days and I complain more than I should, but at the end of the day, I feel so full.  I have my kids who make me laugh all day long.  Like yesterday when I asked Nicolas what he wanted for breakfast and he responded with “it is crunchy, you pour milk on it, and you eat it with a spoon!”  Or when the boys are up in their room reading and playing together and giggling the entire time.  I need to remember more often just how precious these moments are rather than worrying about the mess that might ensue or the next meal I have to make.  I am blessed to have a family to cook and clean for at all!  I am once again reminded of a little book I read a few years ago called “The Quotidian Mysteries” which was all about the mundane things we do in life, things like laundry and dishes and cooking, and how, if we look at them differently, they can become amazing moments of blessing.  For instance, I can pray for each child as I fold and put away their clothes, or pray for my family as I make dinner.  Since they are things I do daily, that is a lot of chances to pray for and bless my family!   What I would be missing if I didn’t have as much laundry to fold or as many meals to cook! 

So, I feel very lucky today.  I hope that while any of you fold laundry, make dinner, go to work,  or run yet another errand you remember that in doing those small, seemingly insignificant things you are actually blessing one or many people!  When you look at it that way it makes it all a little easier, doesn’t it?