It's all worth it...

 

As a stay-at-home mom there are many days when I jokingly send a text to my husband around 4:30 p.m. saying something like...

"S.O.S. I need help! These kids are gonna kill me." 

Not every day is full of sweet hugs and smiling faces. Not every day is ends with hearts full of gratitude and a feeling of accomplishment on my part.

There are some days that are met with tears, feelings of failure, and fears of "Holy crap, what am I doing being a parent?!?"

But, with a mere 8 years of parenting under my belt, I do know this: in hide sight, it's all worth it.

The days where your 2-year old has thrown more tantrums than you can count (and embaressed you in public more than you ever thought possible)...

The days when your adolescent comes home in tears because they just don't understand why a friend would be so mean to them...

The days when your teenager slams her door and screams "I hate you!" because you won't allow her to go over to a boy's house when his parents aren't home (yes, mom, I do remember doing that to you and yes, I am still so very sorry for it!!! Hope you've forgiven me!)...

The day when your last child moves out of the house and you're left with empty bedrooms, clean bathrooms, and milk that spoils in the fridge because there aren't any kids there to drink it...

We'll look back and say, "It was all worth it."

Because we won't remember quite so clearly all of the late-night feedings and zombie-like days that followed. We'll just remember those sweet baby cuddles and the smell of their hair fresh from the bath.

We won't remember wiping all of those runny noses, cleaning up vomit, and and the colds/flus/viruses we got from touching all of it with our bare hands. We'll just remember all of the fun times we had during those cold winter nights, playgrounds, amusement parks, and other adventures that exposed everyone to God-knows-what-kind of germs.

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it many more times...being a parent is hard work. But... remember, it's the most important work we'll ever do.

Stay strong out there my fellow warrior parents. God loves ya...and so do I!