At the end of the week sometimes I look back over the days and wonder what the heck I’ve been doing. 

What do I do all day?  Day after day?  Week after week?  Year after year?  Am I really accomplishing ANYTHING??  What do I have to show for it?

At the beginning of this week I had sick feverish kids which meant extra kids home from school and waking up in the night to give Tylenol and rub backs and put cool washcloths on hot foreheads.

I drove kids to school and fixed beds and washed dishes and folded laundry and bought groceries.

I drove kids home from school and served snacks and reminded them all to do homework and chores.

I drove James to baseball games and soccer practices, Eli to soccer games and basketball practices, and Isaiah to basketball games and baseball practices then served dinner and engineered baths and read books before bedtime.

I taught Joy preschool for Luke on Wednesday.

I watched Eli’s fourth-grade puppet show on Thursday.

Somehow my laundry pile of clothes waiting to be folded continues to grow and we are out of milk…again.

I broke up 53 fights and put Luke and Lizzy (or both) on the stairs for timeout at least 400,000 times.

I changed Lizzy’s pajamas when she climbed back into the tub with Luke AFTER she was all fresh and clean and dry.

I waited patiently for her to climb slowly in and out of the car and her carseat BY HERSELF!  “Can I hop in Mama?”

I walked Fern.

I cooked sloppy joes.

I fought back tears when I got to soccer practice for James right on time at 6:30 only to learn that the practice time had changed to 5:30 and I somehow missed the email and everyone was pretty disappointed (read throwing complete tantrums) during the 20 minute ride back home.

I sent Luke to bed without his dinner.

I read stories and pushed on swings and counted how many jump ropes in a row and signed planners and listened to stories about school and watched YouTube videos about Fortnite.

Not one minute was all that special or glamorous.  It went mostly unnoticed and overwhelmingly underappreciated.  I didn’t make a single penny.

Just good, hard work in the middle of this ordinary life.

But you know what I think?

This is the stuff of everyday life.  Real life.  And it matters.  It all counts.  And I know you are doing it too!!  Moms, we ALL are.

You know what else I think??

Our kids need to see us doing this boring, mundane, thankless and ordinary work. They need to see us care for others and serve.  They need to see when we try and fail and stumble and fall.  They need to see us get it wrong sometimes and mess up and lose our tempers then ask forgiveness and get back up and try again.  They need to see how we slog onward and push through.

Because this, my friends, is LOVE.  I am teaching my children how to love…and so are you!!

What a beautiful week!