It’s 6:30 a.m. and your feet hit the floor. You grab your favorite teal Yeti cup and hit the button on your Keurig. As the coffee pours out, you’re praying for extra grace and strength to face the day.
Meanwhile, one child has lost their socks and the other is screaming and yelling at her brother for touching her.
You sign school planners and field trip permission slips while pouring bowls of sugary cereal you didn’t want your husband to buy.
Finally, you pour that cream in your coffee and take a bite of the over-cooked eggs you were trying to make for yourself.
Next, you nurse the baby while simultaneously telling everyone what to do including your husband about his board meeting in 30 minutes.
You return back to your coffee and now it’s lukewarm so you heat it up in the microwave for 30 seconds. You kiss your husband goodbye and wish him a better day than how yours is starting out.
While your coffee’s heating up, one child’s begging to wear her favorite rainbow unicorn outfit but it’s stinky and dirty so you throw it in the washer on Quick Wash cycle (best mom hack ever) hoping it will be dried in time for school.
Time keeps slipping away and it’s now 7:55 a.m. Your kids can’t be tardy. You juggle everyone out the door regardless of mismatched socks and uncombed hair – praying no one’s missing anything and they’re on time.
You help them work through their emotions and feelings of, “Mom, I don’t want to go to school!” And remind them, “Not going to school is not an option. Stop whining and complaining.”
You’re at the carpool drop-off line. Your kids are moving like snails out of the van. You tell them goodbye with a quick hug and kiss and a huge sigh of Thank you, Lord Jesus.
You drive home, pull in the driveway, and your phone rings. The kids’ elementary school pops up on caller ID. You roll your eyes.
“Mom, I forgot my lunch,” are the words on the other end of the line. You’re annoyed.
You walk in the door and sure enough, it’s sitting on the cluttered countertop. So you get back in the van and drive it to him reluctantly wondering if you’re spoiling him too much.
The van is finally quiet. The baby’s asleep in the car seat. No little voices are saying, “Mom! Mom! Mom!” It’s a taste of heaven.
Since your coffee’s still sitting in the microwave at home, you dart for the coffee shop drive-thru and order a VENTI iced white chocolate mocha (since you’re hot and sweaty) and an apple cinnamon scone – hoping your husband doesn’t text that you’re overspending the budget.
You pull in the driveway for the second time, but you stay put so you don’t wake up the baby. You sip your coffee and scroll social media newsfeeds in delightful solitude. You text your husband a few emoji kisses and how much you appreciate his hard work, too.
Oh, Momma, you really do it all, and it’s amazing. I know some days you think you don’t do anything (especially when people ask you all the time what you do all day?), but in reality, you’re doing everything.
You’re putting your family’s needs above your own. You’re sacrificing big time. Why?
Because of love.
Sure, you’re not perfect. You yell sometimes, you’re impatient, you fall short, you struggle with control, you have wavering emotions and hormones, you’re majorly sleep deprived and sometimes crazy, you need mom friends who get you, and more…
But you’re still amazing.
I know tomorrow, you’ll be doing the same thing all over again when your feet hit the floor and you’ll most likely face more unexpected challenges. So, please, please, don’t forget:
You are seen.
You are known.
You are valued.
You are loved.
You are MOM.
Samantha Krieger is a pastor’s wife and mom to 4. She is the author of Quiet Time: A 30-day Devotional Retreat for Moms in the Trenches. Her writing appears regularly on Her View From Home, TODAY Parenting, and For the Family. Connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.
