today was a storm. ug - a day when i felt frustrated, overwhelmed and inadequate all. day. long. i was surrounded by clutter, time consuming, mentally taxing clutter, papers and junk covering every flat surface - laundry begging to be folded, papers begging to be resolved, followed up on, and filed, and of course children begging for and needing attention and all the emotions of built up stress swirling around inside of me. and instead of ignoring the clutter for yet another day, i ignored my kids, i tried to catch up on the daily maintenance tasks (and still don't feel like i'm catching up). i couldn't wait till bedtime. finally it came and as we squeezed in one true story (a tradition started by my nephews years ago, who requested at bedtime, not a book, but a "true story" from their mom's life).
the last couple nights i've been telling my kids bits and pieces of my family's infamous hike on the pinel trail. this trip was the perfect storm for my family - blood, tears and urine all spilt in the first 30 minutes, followed by a literal storm in the first 3 hours. tonight i told them about when the storm rolled in.
there we were hiking along the Alaskan tundra, my young, tough, adventurous parents and 4 kids ages 3-12, when the fog crept in, and got thicker and thicker, the wind began to pick up, and the trail disappeared. We decided to pitch the tent and hunker down for the night. I remember so well huddling in that tent - it felt like the wind was going to rip that tent apart and blow us away - it was cold and loud and i was scared. i didn't like it and i wanted it to be over. i remember my mom took me under her arm and told me so confidently - it's just the wind - it's pretty strong, but we're gonna be just fine.
and that's what i needed to remember today, as the storm raged around me and inside me - it's just clutter, it's just a bad mood, it's just whining and yelling and tears, it's just a few tasks that will get done eventually - it's pretty overwhelming at times, but i'm gonna be just fine.
6 years ago
3 comments:
You are going to be more than just fine. You are rocking the world with goodness!
Christine you are a wonderful Mom! Dido to what your Mom said. There will always be piles of what ever lying around driving your crazy making you think that's what you need to do first or right now.....step back take a deep breath then go play with your kids because they grow way to fast and will be gone before you know it. I can't tell you how many times I'd wished I'd done that instead of giving into the piles of stuff.
I can't tell you how many times a true story has exactly nailed what was happening in our lives at the moment...or seemed to...funny how that works. Also funny how often YOU nail exactly what is happening in my life. Most of my Sundays are fairly stormy right now and today was no exception. What a treat to have my thoughts poured out for me by my own flesh and blood. You are one in a million sis.
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