http://rachelmariemartin.blogspot.com.au

Just wanna share something nice to read. hope it encourages you, the mom. you are not alone.

- credited to rachelmariemartin.blogspot.com.au -

to the tired mom

Last night my four year old decided to sleep next to me. 

He slept amazing.

I didn't sleep. Sleeping with a four year old is like sleeping next to the hands of a clock. 

As the night wore on I was inevitably met with feet in my face then hands and then back 

to feet. 

I woke tired. More than tired. I woke wondering why I don't have my red mini Keurig 

set up in my room waiting with a mug underneath and all I have to do is hit brew.

He woke up happy.

I love you mommy.

He had no idea how tired I really was or how my back was sore or how I really just 

wanted to sleep for five more minutes - he just was grateful to see me.

And you?

Are you a tired mom?

Are you waking up wishing for more hours in the day? Are you pushing yourself to limits 

that you didn't have? Working? Cleaning? Mothering? Wondering? Dealing with kids that 

are fighting over whose turn it is to play Club Penguin on the computer? (or maybe 

that's just me) Are you wondering whether what you're doing every day makes a difference?

Are you tired of the same routine? 

Sometimes being a mom means simply being tired.

Sometimes being a mom means feeling a bit lonely. Like no one else notices what we're

doing. After all, no one would know that I had maybe a solid 42.4 minute chunk of sleep

last night except that I wrote about it. Well, the gals at Starbucks might know when

I come in and ask for a venti caramel macchiato. (Be ready, my Barista friends.)

Motherhood is so often this giving of self in our homes that no one sees. We work. 

We make macaroni and cheese and forget to take the noodles off and so they become

 mushy. We pick up Little Tikes toys in the backyard again and again and wonder why 

we have so much plastic. We fold frayed towels, match socks, call doctors, wash walls 

that have handprints on them, wash sticky faces, help with long division (is it ever easy 

for any child?), clean the kitchen, wipe down the microwave after our nine year old 

decided to zap something for too long, we go to work, come home from work, we 

work at home, we mother all day, we do whatever that each of our stories are, and then 

we go to bed.

Yeah, we could argue that it's just motherhood. And it's just what moms have had to do 

forever. 

You know what? We have. Since the beginning of time moms have had to get up, 

had to deal with kid issues, money issues, teaching issues, health issues, and so on. 

But,just because we've always had to do something doesn't mean it doesn't need to 

be celebrated and honored. Motherhood, parenthood, they're amazing things. It's not just 

roses and sunshine and skipping though the meadows holding hands. It's real hard stuff. 

Stuff that doesn't seem like it will push us to our limits and yet it does. Stuff that gives 

us great joy and puts a smile on our face and an hour later has us wondering why in the 

world the four year old is making us want to pull our hair out. 

We go into the world and do our jobs and smile at the other preschool moms and order 

our lattes and drive down the interstate and get groceries and we smile.

You're not alone. Do you hear me?

You. are. not. alone.

The other moms in preschool, at the grocery store, at work, at school, at co-op classes, 

at the doctor's office, at where ever you may be, well chances are that they might 

feel tired as well. Wondering about all this motherhood stuff. Yet, still giving of self for 

those kids that you love.

So today, today, I stand up and salute you the tired, and yet amazing, mom. You the mom 

with no sleep. You the mom who needs encouragement. You the mom who works and 

works and works for her family and it feels like no one notices. You the mom with those 

three kids under five who never gets a break. You the mom with the newborn who never

gets sleep. You the mom staying up late waiting for the teen to come home. You the mom.

Plain and simple. You, the mom.

Motherhood is a brave journey. It's always been this brave thing to raise another 

independent, pushing the limits, melt your heart at night, love them forever even when 

they drive you crazy, human. 

That's what you're doing. Even on those tired days.

You. The amazing, brave, empowered, no sleep yet fighting, awesome, cool, mom.  

Who needs sleep anyway, right? (oh yeah, and get that extra shot at Starbucks)