You amaze me.
Yesterday I was reminded how hard it is to be a mom to just those little ones. My older girls were gone — at ballet and with a friend — and my older boys were at taekwondo. Leaving me home. Alone. With my very busy toddler but almost preschooler Samuel and my extremely precocious Elijah.
That boy is crazy, let me tell you. Awesome, but blessed with extra energy like a double shot of espresso extra.
Oh my goodness.
I forgot.
I had forgotten how busy those years were with just those littles underfoot.
There was running, jumping, loud noises, needing me, more loud noises, and lots and lots of busy action going on. I needed to get the kitchen cleaned and dinner made and then the phone rang and, well, it was just me.
I know, isn’t that what motherhood is about? But, my goodness as my kids grew I had forgotten a bit of the running constantly out-of-breath chasing and giving giving giving of self those years are when you have littles under five.
You, the brave and extraordinary mothers of littles, I know that sometimes your days are a blur and that you feel like you don’t get much accomplished, but the truth is — you do a ton. And I mean it. You work very very very hard with those trying to learn to be independent little ones.
It is exhausting, and oftentimes overlooked, work.
Like this:
They don’t sit still – you don’t sit still.
They run around – you run after them.
They’re hungry {again} – you get them food {again}.
You try to sit down — they pull you up.
They dump out the toys – you clean them up.
You answer the phone – they start fighting over a toy.
You, well, you are busy.
I want you to know that what you are doing matters — and that where you are right now in your parenting journey is seriously one of the hardest stages in my own parenting journey. You are needed all day long. It is exhausting. There is no fanfare, no awards, no blue ribbons, no nothing for being a mom. And sometimes, it’s easy to think that what you are doing doesn’t matter. That your work – the picking up, cleaning, diaper-changing, nose wiping, feeding, rocking, reading, cooking, start it over and repeat doesn’t matter.
But, dear sister, it matters.
Deeply.
Life matters.
Mothering matters.
You keep going.
You keep loving on your children.
They will grow, dear moms of those little ones.
They grow, they grow, they grow, they grow. And soon the one dumping out the blocks will be reading, busy on the phone, doing something, or as I’ve learned on a plane across the country for college — and you will want them around you while you think back with nostalgia at those little ones underfoot days. Now, maybe you won’t want that absolute high energy walking on a tightrope balancing one million plates crazy while smiling without sleep days, but chances are, if you’re like me, you’ll miss it just a bit.
So some final words.
You are amazing.
Absolutely amazing. Being a mom is never something to dismiss.
I’m giving you a gold star.
(Because, you know, I’m sure you have stickers and markers and glitter and all of that all over your house):)
Now, just keep being awesome.
Love,
Rachel
****
I hope you consider joining the Finding Joy Facebook page. It’s really an amazing community of moms who are all about encouraging each other, being real, and learning to love their journey.
64 comments
thank you for this. your words are so very encouraging!
I so needed to hear this! THank you for sharing!
Thank you! I needed this today. With 5 and three year old boys there is never a peaceful moment to be had. It gets discouraging at times, but I love those little guys so much! Thanks for the encouragement. 🙂
Thank you. I know you’ll have lots of moms of littles commenting today and thanking you.
When I was up in the middle of the night I thought, “This is the worst job I’ve ever had.” Then I corrected it to “this is the hardest job I’ve ever had!” But also the most rewarding!
Thanks for the encouragement!
Amen to that! Thanks for the encouragement!
Sending this to my daughter, what encouragement! Thanks Rachel!
Thanks for the encouragement. I am in the midst of an eczema/allergy attack little boy who is also cutting his final molars which include blood blisters all over his gums. So good to hear that what I am doing matters even if at the end of the day this very pregnant mama has no energy left. These are the moments we will cherish forever…the cuddles, the kisses, the meaning the world to them. Something not to be taken lightly. Thanks again for your words 🙂
Good post, Rachel!
I have been watching my little grands each week as the time winds down for their mama to deliver #5.
I am totally exhausted when they leave …but it is good for me to realize what their mama is dealing with…and I pray more for her…and for my son…as they are in the midst of raising them.
Can’t wait to meet the little one…to see what he or she will bring to the mix of their family.
😀
Dearest Rachel,
I’m printing this right now and posting it in my kitchen for me to read whenever I need it. Thanks so much for the encouragement. My 2 and 4 year-olds are so busy, busy–and sometimes life is so crazy and I find myself wishing it away–can’t wait for them to be this age, etc., so thank you so much!!
Loved this!!! Thanks for making my day! And the gold star too (the last time i got one i think was 28 years ago). Thanks again for ALL your lovely posts!! 😀
Rachel…what an encouraging post you did here for mothers of little ones!
I know my daughter Lynnette says some of the very same things. It is nice to have older “helpers” isn’t it? You can always delegate some of the care to the older ones and it is good experience and training for them. (:>)
I enjoy your posts…and I like to read Hannah’s posts. I know Lynnette and Abigail enjoy them too. It is so much fun to have blog friends! And facebook friends. Friends sharpen us…and keep us going.
I am a grandma…yet I still enjoy reading younger womens posts and I always love to give encouragement when I can.
Have a lovely day!
Linda @ Truthful Tidbits
Thank you! With baby #6 on the way and my oldest being 6 years old . Sometimes- I feel like crying when someone says their hungry and I am still cleaning up lunch… What a nice reminder to think of this as only a short season.
Their* = they are
such an inspiring and kind hearted post 🙂 i am excited for this new intentional parenting series 🙂
Well golly, you made me cry just a little.
I sat down to read this while eating lunch, which I only had time to do because the 4-month-old was busy pooping (Ha!) so I could put him down for a while, and boy am I glad I came upon your post 🙂
I really do love most days as a mom of two little ones, but it sure isn’t easy. I keep reminding myself that before I know it they’ll be entertaining themselves and the older one will be keeping the younger busy so I’ll have a bit more time.
Thank you for the encouragement. Your children are all beautiful!
Rachel, Thank you.
I always love to hear that encouragement again – no matter the ages of my children I think I’ll never get tired of that pep-talk!
Mine are in the next phase now – the season that has some older ones to sooth the dynamic.
I was chatting with my sister long distance last night and she has a newborn and a toddler. She didn’t believe me when I gave her kudos, but what you said is true: that all littles stage is exhausting in a different way and deserves much laud.
I sent your post to her 🙂
I know she’ll appreciate it.
Hugs!
Sounds like a wonderful series idea — totally resonates with my year-long mission (actually life mission) of living intentionally.
Looking forward to what you have in store!
Blessings,
Lisa
Thank you so much for this! I really needed it today! I have five children including a two year old and twin one year olds! I’m very exhausted right now and my house is a mess but I know that one day I will long for these days!
God bless you!
Pamela
Needed to read this today. Thank you, dear friend.
Seriously, thank you for this. With 3 boys – five year old twins and a two year old – many days I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water! Thanks for the encouragement!
I just started crying. we just adopted again 5 weeks ago. What a blessing to get “the call” a mere 9 days after turning in our last piece of paperwork. We already had many”littles”….Now I have a 6yr old with sever ADHD/ODD…a 4 yr old, an 18 month old and a 5 week old that I wear. My hubby took 6 weeks paternity and I feel like I am somehow barely part of it all….like on the periphery. the oldest is having the worst time with the schedule being switched up with dad home all the time. We homeschool. I am trying to let us breathe, but if I give said 6 yr old a minute off it turns into weeks…you know what i mean….i am so tired. emotionally…..I know that the dear Lord knew this plan before I did and I am trusting it….Your post gave me the extra oomph that family etc just isn’t doing right now. We have the largest youngest family. I sometimes feel they all have forgeotten the “little years” even though their children are only a few yrs ahead….Thanks!
Liz
After the day I just had, this was precisely what I needed to read. Thank you, Rachel! Only another mother would know how much is getting done around here. MWAH!
thank you so much. i remember sitting at the lunch table with you and your girlfriends and thinking about how many kids each of you had… but then you said where i’m at is the hardest time. that meant the world to me. because it is hard. i call it beautiful chaos. : )
loved that. thank you for the encouragement!
that was beautiful. thank you.
Thank you…needed this today. How can you be so on and so encouraging every single day??? You are a blessing~!
Thank you. My little one was making me a little crazy today and I was wondering how those with many kids do it. It’s nice to know that eventually it gets easier.
oh, this is wonderful!! thank you for this beautiful reminder. times with my little can be rough and i yearn for some alone time, but i always know it won’t be like this forever…soon she won’t want me around. thank you for this post!! 🙂
Thank you indeed. A reminder of why we do what we love on a day that had me close to forgetting my own mission of Mommyhood. Thank you for putting it in words.
brought tears to my eyes… today was a rough one and this reminds me why we do what we do. thank you for taking the time to write it. just beautiful.
Thank you …it’s been a rough day !!!
Thanks sweet Rachel! Thanks.
Thank you. I needed this today.:)
Stopping by to let you know that I’m always here praying!
Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
My email address
I so needed to read that after the day I had yesterday with my 2 and 3 year old children, thank you 🙂
Newly single with 2, 4 & 6, drowning in housework and a friend sends me this link!!! Thank you thank you thank you for confirming my inner thoughts that what I do is worth every drop of blood, sweat and tears that come everyday. Thank you for telling everyone else that I don’t sit on my backside and watch TV all day.
THANK YOU for boosting my confidence and self esteem to keep doing what I do!!!! Xxx
Thank you!! I so needed to hear that today!! I’m sitting here with tears pouring down my face because I so needed to hear that someone understands this crazy wonderful thing of being a mommy of little ones!
I have 2 littles (3 yr old and an infant) and this inspired me. I am busy 24/7, but it looks like I’ve done “nothing” at the end of each day. I barely get dinner on the table, and laundry is a joke. That said, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You are right, they will grow, grow, grow! If all I accomplish each day is reading, hugging, teaching, loving, and connecting with my littles– well that is enough. It’s everything. Thank you for the gold star, lol!
“They grow, dear moms of those little ones. They grow, they grow, they grow, they grow. And soon the one dumping out the blocks will be reading, busy on the phone, doing something — and you will want them around you while you think back with nostalgia at those little ones underfoot days.”
Oh yes! very beautifully said!
I miss my girls every day…
They call and I hear their “littles” in the background, and remember those times.:-)
Both are GREAT MOM’S, and I am very proud of them.
Wow, thanks so much for this wonderful article! I am a mom of three “littles” (in fact, we all call our littlest one “littles”). 🙂 I appreciate everything you said! I also grabbed your button. Feel free to peek at my (brand new) blog sometime! http://www.two-in-diapers.blogspot.com.
Cassie 🙂
Like many others here, I needed this:) Mine are 3.5 and 22 months and I am in the first trimester with #3 and boy does life feel like a merry go round some days. Whew!
Simply, thank you. xxx
Great post! Like you, I have seven, but I have olders as well. Just the other day when I was alone with the youngest, I had similar thoughts, “Hat’s off to mammas with littles”. I, too, felt like I had accomplished nothing…nothing tangible, yet what I had accomplished was eternal. We had bonded while reading books, worked together as a team to “fold” laundry, and snuggled together for nap. So, like you, I say mammas of littles, you deserve gold stars for making the most incredible deposits in the lives of these young, precious, blessings. THANKS for a wonderful post!
Cheryl
Two things to say today!
1) Are all Elijah’s precocious? I have one too and he is SUPER PRECOCIOUS!
2.) How in the world did mothers of little boys survive before hot wheels? I give my boys a bucket of hotwheels and you would be amazed at what I get accomplished–well, until somebody strats throwing them!
Thank you, thank you! This post was so encouraging and is so needed! I have 1 and 3 year old boys who are crazy, wild, constantly going boys, do I never sit down. It is fun and exhausting and easy to feel isolated and alone, especially when you have no help. So, thank you! I wish I could hear more posts like this! 🙂
Elizabeth,
Can you get in a group of mamas at church or similar small group setting, park day, etc. so that you can build relationships with mamas in your stage of life? A group where mamas can support other mamas?
Cheryl
Thank you so much!
Thank you thank you thank you!
Love, Traci
Thank you so much for the encouraging words. I used to teach a class of 20 first graders/second graders before being a stay at home mom. I have a 3.5 year old daughter and a son who just turned 1. I am more exhausted now than when I was teaching. And I don’t think some people realize just how exhausting it is! Thank you for the nice post!
THANK YOU!!! I needed that!!!!!
Thank you!! This is the best job I’ve ever had…. and the hardest job I’ve ever had. Sometimes I think we’re all stronger when we stop for a moment and tell each other we know it’s hard. Thanks for your words.
(3 and 1-year-old here!)
I am a mother of four grown children; and grandmother of four wonderful boys… Just want to say you are absolutely right! Motherhood is the most IMPORTANT “job” you will ever be blessed to have!! Go Mom’s!
wow – thank you for this! i needed this encouragement and reminder after a hard last few days with my 4,3, and 11 month old boys.
I have two littlies myself and when I was reading this I was nodding my head and thinking “yes, that” “oh and yes to that too” . My boys are 2.5 & 1.5 and it is a crazy ride with many hard days.
Great post!
Your posts are so incredibly inspiring and encouraging. You honestly give me the lift I need. I can’t thank you enough!
I remember reading this a while ago and googled it today because I needed encouragement! I have three littles – ages just-turned-three, 18 months, and 4.5 months. A/C repair people are taking over my house for a major project today, and I am beyond stressed. Thanks for a “cup of cold water” on a very busy day. My little guys (yes, all boys) matter, and so do I! 🙂
Thank you! I needed that hold star this morning.
I remember toddler stage and it was a busy blur! However; I’m now in kindergarten stage and while it’s still busy, it has different challenges. I truly appreciate the opportunity to love on my little & often have to tell myself; enjoy this for it soon will be gone.
Again; thank you for the post
-aj
[…] lists on why moms always wear leggings or are always late can be fun, this positive encouragement for those of us raising young’uns came as a much-needed breath of fresh air. (Finding […]
I love this. So very true. Thank you for writing such inspiring and uplifting articles. Thank you!
I am a mom with 4 littles… A sick hubby and exhausted… However this happened across my path tonight, it was much needed encouragement. Thank You.
How have i gotten through the last four years of motherhood without your letters to keep me going?
Thank the stars i’ve found you!
Thank you! I wanted to run away Sunday morning when there was poop in the tub before I even got coffee. I’ll take my gold star and wear it proudly! 🙂
oh yes, this first year with my little boy, who let me tell you,is a ball of energy can easily get exhausting! Thank you for sharing your sweet and encouraging motherly posts, as we all know that we need it more often then we realize. Although my boy makes a mess out of the house every 5 minutes, he motivate me to be the best mother I can be. Ive never really been a coffee drinker but whatever helps to give me the energy to last during an entire day is a great day for me!