Band-Aids and Ladybugs

     Today one of my children gagged on an old Band-Aid and the other lost a pocketful of ladybugs somewhere in my house. My son changed his clothes three times, one for his trip to the library, one to play firefighter, and the third because he was a soldier. My daughter has learned to crawl and finds every disgusting thing I have overlooked in my lack of housekeeping in the past week…hence the Band-Aid episode.  My counters are permanently sticky, there are endless baskets of laundry (probably because my son changes his clothes three times a day), and the kids’ toys are constantly scattered everywhere. My body isn’t what it used to be and let’s face it, neither is my mind.  Most of my wardrobe is slightly dated. I have a “secret” stash of chocolate chips in the cupboard, and I actually counted jumping on the trampoline with my three-year-old as a work out last week.

       As a parent of young children, I have been lectured more times than I can count about the importance of cherishing this time with my children. I have to admit, there are times in the middle of this season of my life when I don’t want to treasure the moment, I want to fast-forward or at least medicate my incompetence with handfuls of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

      Life with children is not glamorous.  In fact, sometimes it is just downright exhausting. However, I don’t want to look back at this time in my life full of regret, so I am determined to treasure these moments in my heart no matter how tired I may be.

      I’ve discovered the reason people can look back on this season of their lives with such fondness is because they've forgotten about the tantrums, selective hearing, diaper blow outs, and dirty laundry. (I’m kidding!) They have “forgotten” those things because they treasured the look on their baby’s face when she realized she could pull herself up to see out the window and their little boy’s pride in rescuing his mom from another imaginary fire.  They stopped dwelling on the messy house and focused on what really mattered.

      I know I won’t look back and wish I’d done just one more load of laundry.  I won’t care about the trends I missed or even that somewhere on the first floor of my home there is a colony of ladybugs preparing to take over.  I want to remember kissing my daughter’s chubby feet and bug-watching with my son.  I want to remember the important stuff.

Lord, help me to cherish this season of my life.  Give me the energy, strength, and perspective I need to see what’s really important and let my kids know how much they are truly loved.