I remember a conversation with my friend Julie years ago about the kind of mom she wanted to be. She said she figured out fast she wasn't going to be the such-n-such kind of mom (I don't remember exactly what she said but it had something to do with being the mom that had it all together). Anyway, she said she decided right then she was going to be the fun mom.
As much as Julie had to be realistic with herself, so do I. I am so far from the fun mom. I am the mom that is running around in every direction 90 miles a minute. The average onlooker probably can't even tell that in reality, I am loving every moment of motherhood, because all they can see is busy,busy,busy. I wish I were the fun mom. I guess merely meeting the needs of three small children is just a bit too overwhelming to have time to be fun.
But we all have our moments. Tonight was such a delight to get a taste of being the fun mom. We had the Bennett's over for a sleep-over. Andrew (5), Caleb (4), and Bekah (2) added to my crew makes quite the party without even trying. So, what to do in this absolutely ridiculous heat when you don't have a pool? Apparently, you blow up a bounce house in your living room! The kids had a blast. I think it was more the unconventional location of the living room than the actual bounce house itself. I got to hear so many of those deep belly laughs. That is my absolute favorite thing. After dinner they played with some other toys. It was the rare occasion where everything I suggested they play sounded like a wonderful idea to them. That never happens. After the little ones went down, I blew the bounce house back up and filled it with pillows and blankets and let them watch a movie inside it. They thought they were so cool! I brought them hot chocolate chip cookies I made for dessert. All the while I was thinking, OK, maybe this could be a fun house to visit-if I work really hard against my nature of cleaning and scolding and training every single moment. I really enjoyed my kids tonight, and when I say that I'm including the Bennett's which I love like they were my own. I'll have to work more often on this fun thing.
Amelia cannot resist a pose when the camera comes out.
If my daughters butt was not in Andrew's face, I would absolutely delight in the look on his face.
Caleb jumping and Owen on the floor in the background because it isn't his turn to be in the bounce house.
The three of them having a bounce house pajama movie party, winding down for the night.
3 comments:
You can't always be one kind of mom all the time anyway, so being the fun mom on rare occasions is ok. Even the fun mom isn't really ALWAYS fun.
So I guess that makes me the never-got-it-all-together mom, I think. Or the grumpy-cuz-you-didn't-get-enough-sleep mom.
No one really likes those titles, but there ya go. Facts are facts.
At least I'm not the I-hate-to-be-around-my-mom mom. That's something.
What I really want to be is the too-thin-to-have-given-birth mom.
Um, yeah, THAT'S not happening.
In my kids eyes....your were the FUN MOM last night. They keep asking when they can stay over again. Thank you for watching them for me! It was nice for Rick and I plus my kids loved it!
What I think is most awesome about you is that, knowing you, you are very likely the GENUINE mom. You are who you are- so when you can be fun, you are, and when you have to be wise, you are, when you have to stern . . . and so on. You aren't trying to be other than you are and that is a such an important gift for us all to impart to our kids. I'm with you on the belly laughs.
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