Hello and happy spring time to you all! I am so sorry that it's been over a month since I last wrote! It's partially because I've been debating about what to say, I've been a 'not-so-single, single parent' quite a bit lately with fire season in full swing on the coast and Adam being on call, the boys have taken turns being sick, and work is gearing up quickly with students preparing for the upcoming fall semester.
Some great news to report though since my last post! Haze is officially registered for Kindergarten! He will be FIVE YEARS OLD on Thursday...no, it still hasn't hit me. Mack has started sleeping through the night (for the most part!)! 'Dada' is his first word and he officially has 3 whole teeth! Adam got called out on his first wildfire over Easter in Black Mountain. Although I know he missed us (and we missed him!), I also know he loved every minute of it! I'm starting graduate school May 11th and am SOOO excited! (Or crazy!)
I wanted to share something with you all that's been on my heart for several days. It seems that every time I pick up a newspaper, turn on a news station (which, for reasons like this, isn't very often), or look at my Facebook news feed, there's a story about children--infants and babies even--who have been harmed, abused, or killed by their parents or family member. The 18 month old twins who were found in Yuma, the newborn baby in the upstate 2 kids found in a dumpster, on and on and on. Let me be clear on what this is...evil. For someone to look at a child who cannot care for themselves, defend themselves, or cause another human being any harm and want to cause that child harm is evil. There's no excuse for it and I personally have no tolerance for it. My heart breaks for those babies and those children affected by this kind of torture and abuse and I pray for those who loved those babies and lost them in this tragic way. And as hard as it is for me to do it, I pray for those that would inflict this kind of harm on those babies.
Now...hold on to that thought. My next point is this...mom bashing. Similac, I believe has come out with a wonderful commercial showing all types of moms and the bashing that can come from all of them. Then it brings them all together at the end to help a baby who is in trouble if the stroller isn't stopped. At that point, it's all about that baby that's in trouble--not the SAHM vs. the working moms, or the breastfeeding moms vs. the bottle feeding moms--it's about the baby. Something else I have no tolerance for is mom bashing. When I became a mom it wasn't about me anymore--it was about that 8 lb. 8 oz. bundle of joy that made me a mommy! Everything I do, every decision Adam and I make as a family is made with him (and now his brother!) at the front of our minds and with God's guidance! Let me be clear. I work 40 hours a week and so does my husband (more often than not, he works more than that), I'm about to start graduate school and have been in school for most of my oldest son's short 5 years, and I wonder every. single. day. if I'm screwing up. My children are in an 'in home' day care environment, Haze eats Happy Meals because some nights I just don't feel like cooking. I had an epidural during labor (both times), I vaccinate my children, I believe in spanking, and my children will go to public school. Some of this may offend you because you have chosen to not vaccinate your children, your children ONLY eat organic foods, or you had a natural childbirth....and that's okay.
How is this okay? What makes this okay? At the end of the day, we all do the best we can, with what we have because we love our children. Some women with children work because they have to financially and others do it because they want to. I'm with the latter. I need that adult interaction every day and that time away from my children to make me a better mom. Many women don't understand this...and that's okay too. Some husbands are now the one who stays home, single parents--in many cases don't have a choice but to work, some moms breastfeed and make their own baby food, others buy formula and Gerber baby food. Again...it's all okay.
So here is my challenge to all of us as moms and parents in general. Let's take all of that energy that we use on the mom bashing and gossiping and whispering and use it to, first, pray for one another, to encourage one another, to help one another, and finally, to help the children who are living in the conditions that make them the news stories I mentioned above. Whether it's through a Big Sister/Big Brother program locally, foster/adoption, teaching Sunday School, coaching a ball team for young children....let's do something to show love and to show Christ to these children (and ultimately their parents) who so want to feel loved, to know they are loved--to know that someone on this earth loves and cares for them. Let's stop the abuse, the hate, the mom bashing, and all the negativity that goes with all of the above and lift each other up in prayer, encouraging one another, and loving one another.
I'm reminded of the following verse as I close and I hope it helps you to love other moms and parents more deeply as it does me. We're all in this together and we've got to pray and love each other through it. And tonight, hold your babies closer, hold them longer, give them one more kiss, and tell them one more time how much you love them. And pray, pray, pray for those babies who don't have someone doing that.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8
