I Wish I Didn't...

1. I wish I didn’t have to stick my hand in the toilet…EVER! Now, you may be wondering why I might be sticking my hand in the toilet!?! Well, if you are a mother, and you’ve dealt with potty training, and you’ve never had to wash anything out in the toilet…then consider yourself very lucky. Let’s just say potty training hasn’t always been a smooth affair (no pun intended!) around our house, and my hands have been way too near the toilet water way too many times!
2. I wish I didn’t have to potty train. Let’s just get that one out of the way right now.
3. I wish I didn’t have to be the one to sit outside of the baby’s door at night and listen to that heartbreaking cry that says, “Mama, why are you abandoning me?” while I am trying desperately to establish some much-needed sleeping patterns. If I could skip this part of mothering, I would!
4. I wish I didn’t have to put a slobbery gummy snack, which my little one just spit into my hand, in my own mouth because I am right in the middle of church or a meeting and I have nowhere better to put it!
5. I wish I didn’t have to hold down a totally freaking out child while three other nurses hold her down too, so that a fourth nurse can stick a needle in her leg to give her a flu shot. It is traumatic all around!!
6. I wish I didn’t have to go the rounds with an out-of-control two-year-old who seemed absolutely adorable one day and the next day seemed to desperately need some discipline. Why does that perfect little baby join the ranks of the naughty older kids? I wring my hands and say, “Oh, no! Not YOU too! You were supposed to be the NICE one!!”
7. I wish I didn’t have to clean up throw-up. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I stand there looking at the mess. I don’t even know where to begin. I find myself wondering where my mom is, and, if by chance, she would be available to drive the 5 hours to my house to help me deal with the biggest mess known to mankind—throw-up on the sheets, the comforter, all over the pajamas, in the hair, and of course, now all over me! And if it’s really bad, all over the carpet on the way to the bathroom! Somehow, I make it through it all, and hours later when everything and everyone is cleaned, changed, and back to sleep, I am amazed that I actually accomplished it all without my mom!
8. I wish I didn’t lose my temper in the morning rush to get everyone ready for school and then send the girls out the door with that sad look on their face. It makes me want to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head because I must be the worst mom around. That is the WORST feeling.
9. I wish I didn’t store my spices in a drawer low enough for Austin to reach. After cleaning up an entire bottle of garlic powder on my front room carpet, you’d think I would have learned my lesson. Let’s just say the garlic smell did wonders for my vacuum…for weeks! But, noooo! I also had to clean up an entire bottle of seasoned salt and half a bottle of cinnamon that he dumped on the leather couches. The best part is that the last time it happened, I didn’t know it until the little rascal was already in bed asleep. When I came out to the family room, there was the mess along with the broom and dust pan. He was nice enough to try to clean up his own mess! At least it made me smile…just a little.
10. I wish I didn’t run out of energy at bedtime. I know that I am supposed to be lovingly helping with bedtime prayers, stroking cute little foreheads, giving kisses and reading stories—which I do a lot. But more often than not, it seems, I am snapping, “GO TO SLEEP! I MEAN IT! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER PEEP!” And so forth…
11. I wish I didn’t have to literally watch my kids grow up right before my very eyes! Just stay little, PLEASE! It's going way too fast.

But then, I’m so glad I…
I’m so glad I get to be a mother. It is the greatest joy I have ever known. I love my little kids so much. If I had to, I would potty train, clean up spices, eat slobbery gummy sacks, wash up throw-up, put kids to sleep, rush around for school, touch toilet water, deal with a two-year-old, and handle bedtime every day of my life just so that I could be a mom (which is good, since that pretty much sums up my day!). I'm so thankful for the adorable little ones who push me to my limits, but fill up my heart with so much love. I wouldn’t trade this for the world!

Okay, I'm off to get the kids ready for school. Wish me luck! I'm going to take a deep breath and try to send everyone out the door with hugs, kisses, smiles, and lots of love!!

-Rindi