Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This

Some days, I’m really on top of my game.
I wake up super early, clean my house, do yoga, sip coffee, write in my journal.
It’s a beautiful thing.
And by “some days” I mean it happened one time and I’ve dreamed about it ever since.

Most days I do wake up early, but then I spend way too much time 
looking at recipes and crazy makeup tutorials on Instagram before I rush off to work.
Then I come home to dishes in the sink, no clue what I’m cooking for dinner, 
and a toddler who has used all of his nice for the person who kept him all day, none left for Mama.
The face says it all.

On days like this, I would really like to pour a glass of wine, 
curl up in my bed, and binge watch Outlander. Ya ken?
But I force myself to put on my big girl pants
(yes, they’re yoga pants and I only did yoga that one time, but I put them on nonetheless),
pray for patience, and pour that wine.

More than once I’ve called Mama to vent about how tired I am, 
 how my floors haven’t been mopped in 2 weeks (and I’m being generous here),
how I just bought a pack of 30 nerf darts and we are down to only 3!
She always listens, and complains a little too, then reminds me that
there are always going to be days that make us want to run away and join the circus
(only if I get to look like Reece in Water for Elephants),
but even the worst days are a blessing.

I am always reminded of words that my Mama has spoken to me so often.

Someday I’ll miss having 20 toy firetrucks lined up down my hallway,
having to put the same pair of socks on Creek 8 times because the toes are “crumply”
and never being able to drive Creek anywhere without
having police sirens blaring on my car’s Bluetooth.
Well, I might not miss that last one.

So far, this year has taught me that I should never complain about things that,
at one time, I prayed so desperately to have.
My job may not be where I want to spend my time,
but there was a day when I begged God to let me be hired.
My house may be messy and cramped, but it’s the only home my child has ever known,
it’s where we laugh and grow and live.
My little Sprout may push my patience to its absolute limit,
but Lord knows I wouldn’t trade being his Mama for anything on this earth.

 

Mama said there’d be days like this
and I thank God for them.