Today I took about two minutes to sweep our small kids’ bathroom and put a freshly-washed bath mat down. It’s the only TLC I’ve given the room in awhile and it was badly needed. As in, you could measure the time since my last cleaning by counting the toothpaste strata on the counter.
When I emerged from the bathroom, broom and dustpan in hand, feeling a teensy bit proud of myself for that little effort, I found myself crunching across… what WAS that? OH NO! GRANOLA! Strewn. All. Over. The. Kitchen. Floor.
Worse yet, the perpetrator and the granola container weren’t anywhere in sight. I might have thrown the broom and dustpan down in exasperation as I sprinted into action, hoping against hope, that I could minimize the damage.
DAHHHGH! There sat Little Boy, on the couch surrounded by little piles and sprinkles of granola, empty container in his chubby lap.
It was a far greater mess than the one I had just cleaned up in the bathroom. So what was the point, again?
Now I remember why it only gets cleaned when we’re having company. One of us distracts the kids while the other cleans and then we try to keep them outside until our guests arrive. (Of course that doesn’t work too well in the winter.)
Oh, and I haven’t mentioned the little ant problem we have yet, have I? Oh yes. Little sweet-loving ants have discovered our feast of a house, for Little Boy loves to throw his food on the floor, paint ottomans with peanut butter, and drip beverages out of “spill-proof” cups.
Days months like this make housework seem SO not worth the time.
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Oh joy I feel your pain and I just saw an ant today… upstairs… far away from the kitchen
Ants will not cross cinnamon. Odd, but true. You could put it on the floor by the walls as a barrier. then they would go somewhere else?
Hey, I just found this and thought it was encouraging. Maybe you will as well…
Strength For a Weary Mom
We began this series by asking: “How does the mom with young kids make the best use of her time when she doesn’t feel like she has any time?” We’ve looked at a few essential deals for this busy season:
1. Preach the gospel to yourself (pt. one and two)
2. Prize your husband (pt. one and two)
3. Parent all the time (pt. one, two and three)
4. Pay attention (pt. one, two and three)
5. Pursue help in parenting.
I want to close the week by reminding you of one of my favorite promises from God’s Word. Galatians 6:9 says: “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
This verse was a source of strength to me when I was carrying my one year old, chasing my two year old and correcting my four year old. I didn’t feel like I was bearing much fruit, but this verse provided faith for the future.
My kiddos are now five, six and nine, and the challenges are a little different. I’m dealing with arguments between my five and six year old and the heart issues of my nine year old. But I’m still holding on to this wonderful promise.
May I encourage you to hold onto this verse as you seek to faithfully sow into the lives of your little ones? The harvest won’t come today. And it won’t come tomorrow. Maybe not even next year or the year after that.
But we must be faithful to sow today. Faithful to train. Faithful to teach. Faithful to discipline. Faithful to love. Or, as it says in this passage, faithful to “do good.” And we must trust God that He will fulfill His promises, that we will reap a harvest in due season if we do not give up.
My expectations are not for today, or even tomorrow–but my hope is in God who has promised that, someday, my labors will bear fruit for Him. Even though my body is weary, my soul gains new strength from this promise.
I pray it strengthens you as well.
http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/2009/03/strength-for-a-weary-mom.html