Homemaking the highest wage of love

In the wee hours of the night, the sounds of rustling around and little slow whines soon to develop into a full infant cry, wakes me up. Each new day is mostly like the last, filled with toddler wake up calls, making lunches, cups of coffee, house chores, changing diapers, running errands, answering to my 3 year old "mom... mom... mom" requests, snacks, nursing my infant son on demand, more house chores, doing most things with 1 available hand while holding baby, planning and cooking dinner, dishes, sharing stories, hugs, kisses and bed time routines. Once the day is done and the kids are asleep, silence fills the air and it's all too easy to continue on the path of production of getting done "all that I can, while I can." I take very little time, if any time to sit, lay, rest or relax the ever-running mind of mine. Yet, on the occasion that I do, I find myself sitting up in bed in the dark, as my husband sleeps, my eyes wander to my sons crib and I watch him as he sleeps. I wonder what he dreams about, what his little mind must be thinking. I replay the day and all the silly faces he made, all the smiles he made, his sweet little sounds and smell the scent of spit ups on my shirt. It's as if I yearn to wake him up to see his smile and smell his sweet breath... But why, why when he's sleeping so sound and at 1:00 in the morning when I should be getting some sleep of my own? I guess you could call it my moments of gratitude. It's in these moments that I can hear my own self think, I can spill out what I'm most grateful for each day in my life. It all sounds so cliche and yet it's not done often enough as we get so caught up in that hustle and bustle of everyday life, days past much like the last. So, I take these moments to appreciate life's biggest blessings and the day to day life I get to live out as a wife and mother. I smile as I change my sons diaper in the middle of the night, as he stretches his little body out never even opening his eyes, I kiss his little lips as he snuggles up in my arms and falls back into a deep sleep, I kiss his chubby cheeks as he sleeps and whisper "I love you." 

Yes, everyday I eat standing up with a baby in my arms on most days, I run up the stairs down the stairs back up and go round and round between the three of my littles... But because of them I laugh, I learn, I grow, I smile, I feel the love of my kids and give the love of a mother that is a privilege not all women get. Sure I've given up many things to be a stay at home mom, but that little compares to what I have gained from being a stay at home mom. I am thankful for each day I am given to be their mommy and to see their smiles, hear their laughter, triumph over trials and fears and smell their not good and not so good smells :)  The oh so tough job of being a homemaker is by far the most rewarding career of my life. It has given me many things, among them, growth, reward, obstacles, challenges, values, time and the highest wage of love. It's the little moments that count the most and it's the moments that we take the time to appreciate and express our gratitude for what we do have and get to do in this life. It is all a blessing, no matter how big or small you think.  I challenge everyone to take a few minutes each day to think about what life blessings you have and be sincerely grateful for them, not thinking about what's on your calendar for tomorrow or worry about anything, just live in the moment and be happy for what is.