I have no idea what last night was like for you. Maybe you got a great night of sleep and you woke up this morning ready to conquer the day. Or maybe you spent hour after hour holding and rocking and feeding a fussy baby, or a sick baby, or a baby who just refused to close their eyes.
Maybe there were small hands that shook you to tell you that they had a bad dream.
Or maybe the transition into a big boy/girl bed isn’t as easy as you hoped, and last night was another night of being kicked in the face by a tiny toddler who slept much more soundly than you did.
Maybe a restless night has made today feel like an extension of yesterday… And yesterday an extension of the day before.
Maybe all of your days seem to run together and you are standing in a place where tomorrow looks like more of the same.
I get it. Momma, I totally get it.
Maybe you woke up and were ready for today to be different. Happy attitudes, extra patience, and no yelling…
And maybe by 8:15 you realized that it was going to be another day full of fussy babies, demanding toddlers, and guilt from losing your temper when you could have just taken a deep breath and calmly said it again (for the 100th time.)
Maybe breakfast is still out on the counter, or lunch or dinner, and you can’t stop to clean it up because you have to find another pair of Buzz Lightyear undies because all of those articles on how to potty train your kid in 36 hours were a bunch of bunk.
Maybe you’re out of diapers, and the milk went bad, and the bill you paid a week ago got lost in the mail.
Maybe you’re on your 3rd ear infection this month or it feels like you have visited the doctor’s office so often that you should have your own parking spot.
Maybe everything that could go wrong has gone wrong and nothing seems fixable – you don’t know how you’ll make it, but you keep going because there are no other options and if you sink – the whole ship goes down with you.
Momma – I get it.
Sometimes I want to scream when I read posts that tell me to cherish these moments. These moments of pure exhaustion when you’re hanging on by a thread.
When you don’t remember the last time you had a proper meal or felt like you weren’t in charge of EVERYTHING.
Because we already know it’s true. We know that one day we will look around and miss all of this madness… but today… today in the middle of it… we don’t need to add guilt to our exhaustion.
We just need hope.
I have been right where you’re standing, and while I cannot promise an easier today or better tomorrow. I can tell you that you’re going to make it.
It won’t always be this hard. It won’t always be this demanding.
There will come a day when you look around and realize that everything doesn’t seem quite so overwhelming. You won’t be able to pinpoint the exact moment it happened, but it’s just not as hard as it used to be.
That day is coming, friend.
But until then borrow my hope, friend.
Has anyone told you today that you’re doing a great job? That you’re an awesome Momma? Because you are! Those little ones love you more than anything, and most importantly, they know that you love them too.
Take a second with me. Listen to my words. You’re going to make it. You really are. And I’m so glad I get to be the one to remind you.
So, before you do anything else, hug those precious babies. Hold them tight and remind yourself that there is no greater joy than the little lives wrapped up in your arms. And every day is completely worth it to get to be called their momma… even on the days you’re hanging on by a thread.
This is an excerpt of my book, Hope Unfolding. Click the image below to grab a copy now!
