The Journal of an Honest Mom

This morning I woke up to Child 1 and Child 2 talking into the fan in my room.

You know… just a regular fan. The kind where if you talk into it, it distorts your voice and makes you sound funny. That is exactly what they were doing.

At first, I was frustrated.

I needed sleep.

I wanted sleep.

I was tired.

I have a baby who still wakes up in the middle of the night, so it’s not like I had slept through the night anyway.

But then, once they realized I was awake, they brought me a pile of books and asked me to read with them.

So, like any mom, I scooted over and told them to climb into bed.

We read a few stories. Right now they’re really into the Pizza and Taco books. If you haven’t read them, I highly recommend them. They’re pretty funny.

The whole time, though, my brain was reminding me of everything I needed to do.

Make breakfast.

Fold clothes.

Do the dishes.

Clean the house.

All the things.

But then I had this thought.

Their childhood is shorter than my to-do list.

What does it really hurt if, for one morning, I choose them instead?

So that’s what I did.

Instead of jumping out of bed and doing everything that felt required of me, I decided to spend time with my children.

I decided to take it slow.

To be present.

To give them my full attention.

So we stayed in bed for another forty minutes… maybe an hour.

We read books.

We made up stories.

We told those stories into the fan so our voices sounded ridiculous.

We laughed.

They may not remember this morning.

But I will.

Because it meant something to me.

Honestly, it felt like a shift.

I realized that what is required of me as a mom isn’t always chores.

Sometimes what’s required of me is my presence.

My availability.

My attention.

Eventually we ordered McDonald’s because… well… sometimes hotcakes win.

The kids happily ate their breakfast, and after that we had a dance party to Michael Jackson.

Because every child should know the King of Pop.

Child 3 eventually joined in and absolutely loved it.

Child 4… give him a break. He’s a baby. He has no idea who Michael Jackson is or what all the noise was about. But he sure got a kick out of watching his brothers dance. I think I enjoyed watching him almost as much as I enjoyed watching them.

At one point I looked at the clock.

We had spent almost two hours just… being together.

And honestly?

I don’t think any of us got bored.

So if you’re anything like me, your to-do list is probably long.

Really long.

And yes, there are absolutely days when we can’t stop everything we’re doing to play. There are meals to cook, laundry to fold, bills to pay, and responsibilities that simply can’t wait.

I understand that.

I live that.

But every once in a while…

Maybe it’s okay to slow down.

Maybe it’s okay to read one more book.

To have a dance party.

To make silly voices into a fan.

To be the designated reader.

Because sometimes that’s exactly what our children need.

And sometimes…

That’s exactly what our job requires of us in that moment.