I’ve been meaning to write this post since Christmas, when my mom asked Mary and me to write or say something to our 18-year-old sister Karen to reassure her that we do actually enjoy being mothers.
I have been a mother for two-thirds of my adult life, so it’s hard for me to even remember what it was like when I was just me. Often I long for that old self, or pine for the fantastic new self I will be once my days are filled only with those bodily functions and tantrums that are my own.
In the meantime, for the next 700 years or so, I get to be a mom, and I get to stay home with three of the cutest, stinkiest, smartest, dumbest, most guileless, most naughty girls in the whole world. Like you, my kids are WELL above average in both their triumphs and their catastrophes. I have no patience for people who think you can’t hate some parts of being a mother and still, overall, love being a mother.
I have a pretty long list of the things I love best and the things I hate most about my kids and about being a mother in general. For this post, I’ve limited myself to the best and worst of what I experience physically every day, or, in other words, my
Best of the senses and worst of the senses
Sound
Best – baby giggling or a child reading, however haltingly.
Worst – screeching pterodactyl impersonation, especially when you can’t escape it or fix it.
Sight
Best – sleeping kids.
Worst – anything involving poop.
Smell
Best – baby’s skin, which is to say Johnson’s Baby Lotion.
Worst – little girl panties that looked clean but WEREN’T.
Touch
Best – that plump, squishy, naked baby body.
Worst – snotty nose nuzzling my neck.
Taste
Best – cookies we’ve made together.
Worst – backwash in my drink.
And the best day ever would be a day without potty accidents, projectile vomiting, excess snot, runny poop that doesn’t know it’s place, or any other misbehaving excretions.
Why are moms so obsessed by what goes in and what comes out of their kids? Gross.
I hope this has convinced Karen that motherhood is the most holy, the most sacred of all endeavors in life and that she should rush to embrace it as soon as possible. Or, in other words, that she should marry carefully in about 10 years, and then start thinking about maybe having one or two kids, and start saving now for a mother’s helper.
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I’ve entered this post in MamaBlogga’s Group Writing Project ‘Savoring the season.’ I wrote it for my MMSM carnival, but my best of times and worst of times fits the theme so well! Maybe it’s a spring thing?
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I also hope you’ve thought of something that bests and worsts you. As Emerson said, consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. To participate in the MMSM carnival, leave your link or comment below. Any questions? Check out the MMSM link at the top of the page.
Here’s the original quote from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities
Tags: Makes-me-smile, motherhoodIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way . . .
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Ah, yes, motherhood! I wouldn’t trade it for all the money I have yet to win in the lottery!
Read my post about my worst day – when my nest emptied! http://3amdesigns.blogspot.com/2007/08/letting-go.html
Cherish each moment cuz 700 years of moomyhood is really just a “blink of an eye!
enjoyed your post!
toni
toni’s last blog post..Easter Bunny
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oops! that would be “mommyhood!” lol
toni’s last blog post..Easter Bunny
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I loved your post. It’s so true.
Some of my worst days have become the best funny memories. Some of the really good days are just little memories that seemed insignificant at the time. That’s what I attached-a normal day.
We are THAT family’s last blog post..And the Winner Is . . . .
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My teenaged nieces will be coming to visit in a couple of months, and I’m going to tell them NEVER to have children!
Memarie Lane’s last blog post..My Celebrity Detox: The High School Years
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I love going back and rereading my journals (the ones I actually have kept!). I think it so funny to see how wise I thought I was. The epiphanies I had at that time are just common sense to me now. I also like to see how I have followed the crowd I was with. I am SUCH a follower. For the first time in my life I am trying to be just me. At least I think I am trying to be who I really am… not the person I think everyone wants me to be. I have always needed a lot of self assurance from people. “Tell, me again that I played okay!” “Are you sure you liked the dinner?” And I don’t think I have ever been on a shopping trip by myself. So, I am trying to knock it off.
Christine’s last blog post..Happy Easter
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I want to contribute to your carnival Jane, even though I don’t have a blog yet. I realize that many will think that is like living your life without a head attached to your neck, but I am okay with the fact that I have lots of other things I want to do besides blogging, so it has been lower on my priority list. I will get to it eventually though.
Like Lady Lyn, I have decided that right now is the best of times and the worst of times for me. My husband is in medical school which means he is very busy and we are very poor. We have to live on a very strict budget and today I have been trying to figure out what I am going to do for medical insurance once my current benefits end in 6 months. Could he just get a job already?
Also, I don’t really like the city that I live in. It is dirty and has a high crime rate. Sometimes I get really frustrated with how things are run at church here, because they are not being run the way they are suppose to be. Yesterday I wanted to stand up and tell the Young Women and Men in the ward to not listen to a single word that the speaker was telling them because it was crap. (The speaker was actually the first counselor in the bishopric.) Next time we have a combined 5th Sunday meeting I might ask if we can just have regular classes. When can we move?
On the other hand, I don’t know if I have ever been happier in my whole life. I get to stay home with my 18 month-old daughter, who becomes funnier and more beautiful to me everyday. It is sometimes hard but I really love being with her and we have so much fun together. I know that I am the most important person in the world to her. We may not have much with regards to material possessions, but we have enough, and we have lots of dreams about the future and how great it is going to be. I have more time to do things then I have since I was a child. Before my daughter was born I was working full-time and it seemed like I never had time for much except work. I have been able to spend more time with my family in the last year-and-a-half, and I have been able to take some really amazing trips. I have made some good friends here that I enjoy spending time with, whether it is at the Botanical Gardens or an Easter Egg decorating party, or just an impromptu picnic. I could make this list a lot longer, but this is already a really long comment, so I will finish up. After thinking it through, I guess now is more of the best of times then I thought it was. I once heard the wife of a plastic surgeon (who probably makes a million or so dollars a year) say that the best times were in medical school when they were so poor because they still had all their dreams ahead of them. Maybe she is right. I will let you know in 10 or so years.
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Great post I might have to do a post on my own sences. Thanks for stopping by my blog. It’s always nice to see a new commentor.
Debz’s last blog post..Ramdom Things and 3 Word Sunday
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[...] Jane is hosting a blog carnival with the theme “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” This is a quote from a Dickens novel that I should have read sometime in my life but haven’t. The way the carnival works, everyone writes a post related to this announced theme, publishes it on their blog, and then adds a link to it on her original post. [...]
Hey, thanks for participating! I enjoyed reading the posts, and felt like everyone got to reflect a bit on some important part of their life. Hope it was worthwhile for you. Next week is a quote from my favorite (80s High School) movie, Some Kind of Wonderful. Maybe we can entice Andrea and Tracey to write on that.
Melinda, you might want to rephrase stuff like “I am okay with the fact that I have lots of other things I want to do besides blogging, so it has been lower on my priority list,” when you do get around to attracting an audience. It ALMOST sounds like you think that people who put blogging high on the list of priorities might be . . . well . . . losers or something.
I’m glad you wrote in here, though, and I’m trying to remember, oh, it was a RIMD post about how Shannon’s 6 year old was sure he would be famous someday. How lovely to have all your dreams ahead of you. My parents wax lyrical of their days living in a mobile home in Texas on 400/month.
I am just waiting for the day when the grass is not greener somewhere else.
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When I say I have lots of other things I want to do besides blogging, I mean take a shower and things like that. Still, once I do get my blog up, I am not sure that I will be aiming for a big audience. I think I would prefer to keep it small. I thought being “popular” was something you worried about in high school, or even in a singles ward. I think I will aim for quality rather than quantity. Of course I might not even achieve that. No, I don’t think you are a looser. Blogging is a great way for you to write and be creative, which is something you really enjoy and are good at.
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“quality rather than quality”
I hear you (though are they always mutually exclusive? And surely you would agree that the people who take time out of their busy lives to read me are QUALITY).
Sometimes I envision myself as a cloistered Emily Dickinson, writing “my letter to the World. That never wrote to Me–”
And then sometimes I admit (to myself at least) that I would sell my firstborn (and throw in the other two for free) to have a large audience and fame and fortune. Well, at least enough fortune to buy a house.
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Blogging is all about the audience! Admit it – don’t we all check whatever little widget thingies we have to see how many people have come by?
Except for a few (like me) who are truly just here to selflessly spread joy and share our vast knowledge… choke, cough, gag….
toni’s last blog post..Makes-Me-Smile Monday
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Too funny. I save being creative and opening myself up through writing to very small (creative writing class) audiences. My blog is purely for people to keep up with our family. It has just become news to me that you can actually get famous through blogging.
Christine’s last blog post..Happy Easter
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I love your conclusion! Though I do have to say that, for me, the worst sight isn’t poop—it’s lots and lots of blood.
Thanks for participating.
Jordan (MamaBlogga)’s last blog post..Savor the seasons of motherhood
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[...] Makes-Me-Smile Monday: The best of times, the worst of times” by Jane of What About Mom? [...]
I had to LOL at your best of/worst of because with twin boys, I’m at the Potty Humor stage right now. EVERYTHING is about what comes out of the body. Ewwwwwwwwwww. I hope it’s different with girls.
Loved your post! I found you through MamaBlogga’s GWP.
Warm regards,
Michelle aka The Beartwinsmom
Michelle (The Beartwinsmom)’s last blog post..In-between seasons
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[...] Makes-Me-Smile Monday: The best of times, the worst of times” by Jane of What About Mom? [...]
[...] Makes-Me-Smile Monday: The best of times, the worst of times” by Jane of What About Mom? [...]
What a great post. I have a feeling the things that seem like the worst category I will miss when they are gone. But for now, I have plenty for both the best and the worst categories. Great writing!
Julie @ The Surrendered Scribe’s last blog post..Potpourri
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[...] Makes-Me-Smile Monday: The best of times, the worst of times” by Jane of What About Mom? [...]
[...] Makes-Me-Smile Monday: The best of times, the worst of times” by Jane of What About Mom? [...]
[...] Makes-Me-Smile Monday: The best of times, the worst of times” by Jane of What About Mom? [...]
A day with no tantrums but my own? Ah, a mom can dream!
Mama Zen’s last blog post..Invisible
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I like the juxtapositions that you use. It’s the perfect way to describe raising children. My daughter is the most wonderful little person in the world, except when she is driving me crazy ;+) My least favourite thing would have to be dictatorial determination mixed with crying. Sometimes, it just can’t be her way.
MomOnTheGo’s last blog post..The Trouble with Visiting Grandma Joyce
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