Being Filled

I'm skipping The Office right now because Alexander likes to watch it without commercials... so, tomorrow. Now, for now. I would like to share. I have been reading poems and quotes lately about parents and children, for obvious reasons, and have found a few good ones. I do not like to read books and often find myself in the drudge of philosophical or sociological academic texts, so, blah. Poems are rewarding, though. They are quick and generally have heart. Not to mention the tendency that the human reads poems when they are experiencing a particular emotion, and are able to pinpoint it precisely through poetry. Here are some I have found worth repeating:

Somebody said a mother is an unskilled laborer . .
Somebody never gave a squirmy infant a bath.
Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby...
Somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, "normal" is history.
Somebody said a mother's job consists of wiping noses and changing diapers
Somebody doesn't know that a child is much more than the shell he lives in.
Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct . . .
Somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.
Somebody said being a mother is boring . . .
Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a permit.
Somebody said teachers, psychologists and pediatricians know more about children than
their mothers . . .
Somebody hasn't invested her heart in another human being.
Somebody said if you're a "good" mother, your child will "turn out" okay. .
Somebody thinks a child is like a bag of plaster of Paris that comes with directions, a mold and a guarantee.
Somebody said being a mother is what you do in your spare time . . .
Somebody doesn't know that when you're a mother, you're a mother all the time.
Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their voices . . .
Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child wind up and hit a golf ball through the neighbor's kitchen window.
Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother. . .
Somebody never helped a fourth grader with his math.
Somebody said you can't love the fifth child as much as you love the first
Somebody doesn't have five children.
Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books . . . Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his
nose.
Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery . .
Somebody never watched her "baby" get on the school bus for the first day.
Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back . . Somebody never organized seven giggling Brownies to sell
cookies.
Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married ...Somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a
mother's heartstrings.
Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home . . .
Somebody never had grandchildren.
Somebody said being a mother is a side dish on the plate of life . . .
Somebody doesn't know what fills you up.
Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her...
Somebody isn't a mother.

Author unknown

~Please, don’t tell me I am caught up in others’ influences… I want to be home. I am smart minded, and I am level headed, and I do know what I want-- and my husband backs me completely. My husband fully recognizes my job as a mother and I am proud to be able to provide the service to my son.~

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
So she'll pour herself some.
The coffee will get spilled by her three year old.
She'll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do some laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over some snow boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper for tonight.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With a Pound of
Hamburger.)
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.
She will look for the checkbook.

The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old.
While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring. (Of course!)
Her five year old will answer it and hang up.

She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come over for coffee on
Friday.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
She will pour herself some.
And chances are,
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Written by Kathy Fictorie
Based on If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

~mmm… coffee…~

Mom's See

the beauty in dandelion bouquets,
and know the importance of declaring each and every drawing
A work of art.
Mom's Find
the magic in blankets that become tents,
in backyard Adventures,
And stories that fall upon
sleepy little ears.
Mom's Know
the fun of jumping on beds
and hanging upside-down,
and giggles that just won't quit.
Mom's are the greatest-
especially ones who have the gift of seeing life
through the eyes of a child.
Author unknown

"Before I Was A Mom"

Before I was a Mom I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.
Before I was a Mom I slept as late as I wanted.
And never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.
Before I was Mom I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to lullabies.
Before I was a Mom I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom I had never been puked on, pooped on, spit on, peed on, or pinched by tiny fingers.
Before I was a Mom I had complete control of my mind, my thoughts, my body and all my feelings.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a Mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important.
Before I was a Mom I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was OK.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much......
......before I was a Mom.

...Author Unknown

MOMMY BRAIN

If you've left the crayons to melt in the car,
And forgotten just where the car keys are,
There's a perfectly good way to explain:
You see, you've come down with "Mommy Brain."
When you're not sure where the past 8 hours went,
Or whether the phone bill check's been sent,
If you've left the laundry drying in the rain,
It's just---you guessed it---Mommy Brain.
If you find yourself chatting for hours on end
About diaper prices with your cyberfriends,
You've just caught a particularly virulent strain
Of that affliction known as Mommy Brain.
If you left your bags at the grocery store
Or completely forgot what you went there for,
If you called the cat by your baby's name,
You can bet that Mommy Brain's to blame.
And if you know the words to "Goodnight Moon" by heart, Or you study your sleeping babe like a work of art, If you're always surprised by how time is flying,
And the thought of that first birthday starts you crying...
It's unavoidable girls, and I feel your pain
For I, too, suffer from Mommy Brain.
But I'll admit one thing---of this I'm sure
I hope they never find a cure.

- Carlotta Eike Stankiewicz

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER...
by: Erma Bombeck (Written after she was diagnosed with cancer.)

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television-and more while watching life.
I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."
There would have been more "I love you's.". More "I'm sorry's" ...But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute... look at it and really see it ... live it...and never give it back.
Stop sweating the small stuff. Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what.
Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who Do love us. Let's think about what God HAS blessed us with.
And what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally, as well as spiritually.

~This last poem is of extreme importance to me. I wrote earlier how I do not want to live in regret. I want to be here, every day, every minute, with Eli. I want to experience these first leaps, firsthand. Never in my life have I felt more exhausted and exuberated at the same time… well, other than when I first met Alexander and I didn’t care about time, or where I had to be, or what I had to do. I want to live in the moment with my son, and my husband. I want to take pictures of poop and be overwhelmed at night when I think of how much I simply love. I want to stop and absorb. I want to play and learn. The greatest thing that has ever happened in my life is having our son. I want to apply my knowledge and watch it grow. I want… but in a good way.~

Cheers!

I can't tell you how many times I am driving along the farmer's turnpike and see something I want to capture through film. I can't tell you how many times I have wanted to pull over and snap a quick shot. I can't tell you how many times I have not had my camera with me. I also can't tell you how many times I have had my camera with me and didn't take the time to pause. I do not want to live with regret.
Today, I was driving home from a quick (it can happen now the bridge is open) shopping trip in town, and my eye caught this white horse. Eli has just stopped his 'I dont' wanna be in the car seat' crying fit, so I kept driving. Then, I paused. I thought to myself as I drove past and forward, 'why don't I stop, why do I do this to myself... I'm missing something'. So, in the middle of the highway, on a hilly road for that matter, I pulled a U-ie. And I stopped.
Aside from the Goonies, my favorite movie growing up was Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. You should see it if you haven't, then you may understand my yearn for a white horse named Lightning...
This horse was just hanging out, waiting for me to come back to capture his beauty. He seemed like he wanted me to pet him, but I was too afraid-- I didn't know him, and I couldn't rely on Senora Webster's methods, as I have never attempted them in person. So I just took his picture.
He was a beautiful horse. And I thank him. He made me pause, and stop.