Drinking from the cup of Raw Motherhood.

 WARNING: No Sugar-Coating or Gentle Mentoring found here.

Perhaps today you are like me, and while you appreciate the variety of blogs out there, the last one you want to stumble on is one that is composed by a woman seven years younger than you, with two nearly perfect children and a holy home whose white, scripture encrusted walls watch as the children make origami, sip tea, pick up after themselves and in the rare event that there is a teeny scuffle, the mother pauses for group prayer, identifies the issue, addresses the hearts of her children and then leaves them to play harmoniously while she goes and blogs about it.

Today, I will be honest and say that if I were to come across such a blog, my eye balls would instantly switch on "auto-roll" and i would begin dry heaving (there's nothing in there, for I did not have a chance yet to eat). This is why I am not indulging in any blog hopping. Seriously. Today, I am barely hanging on. I can feel myself being sucked into the fruitless, failing 'tunnel vision' that only sees, hears and feels directly what is in front of me, creating a barrier for gratitude to take it's rightful place in my attitude. I know, I know! I should not let myself go there. There is so much to be grateful for, there are so many perks to this season of life (as in knowing where my children are, who they are hanging out with, what there brains are being filled with). 

And yet.

There are mornings/days/afternoons/evenings like 

this morning, where the density of demands is so strong,

I can barely get my head out of it's thick, gloopy atmosphere, 

to gulp in even one breath of the clean, crisp air of reason

(that is much easier to breath in after the children are in bed for the night).

Sooooooo....

JUST in the event that you are where I am at today, 

and you crave a sense of solidarity from a fellow woman who: 

is holding onto sanity for dear life, 

who loves Jesus, 

who raises her voice and wishes she wouldn't, 

who occasionally swears in her head (the really good stuff), 

whose living room looks like THIS:

...whose children had a well balance lunch of cheese sticks, watermelon and bananas (and ate said banana out of the mason jar that held crayons just seconds before)....

...who finds all kinds of edibles in various nooks and crannies...

...whose kitchen counters, no matter how many times she tries to clean 'em off, always attracts annoyingly miscellaneous stuff that's a chore to relocate, adding to the general 'everything is freakin' OUT of CONTROL'...

...who has a drawer full of empty DVD covers and surviving video cassettes messily thrown in a drawer, with a pile of corresponding scratched DVD's waiting to be put back in said covers sits on the dusty shelf way above the children's reach...

...whose children display the best manners in the kitchen, and if they want "Watermelon Juice" (???), will find ways to obtain it...

....finds that 'crafts' simply means crayons strewn all over the floor...

... at any point of any given day, can expect to find discarded clothing next to a puddle of pee that didn't make it to the porcelain throne, usually stepped in (by said woman) before recalling the last time (a day ago) such a scene was found.

And now for the inspirational ending.

Hmmm....

I could end it like many of them do, with a Bible verse and a nice perspective on the glories of motherhood. Or I could simply state that God gives us music, like that of Michael Buble', and I might suggest putting it on, blaring it above the crying and dancing 'til your dizzy.It beats repeatedly bashing your head against the wall and wasting time Googling "Christian Boarding Schools for Preschoolers in Switzerland" (there aren't any). 

(And to my mother, who will surely call after reading this and express her concern for my well being--or probably really the children's--do not worry! Blessed nap time came, and not a minute too soon! I have picked up the living room, decided to give 19,900 of our 20,000 books to Goodwill, bagged them all up, cleaned up the pee and am munching on Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and sweet potato chips. I have stopped shaking. And swearing in my head. And i hugged the children who are awake and duct taped to the couch (JUST KIDDING!!!) watching an scratchy DVD during 'quiet time'. And I blogged about it all, offering a glowing example of how other mothers can handle it as beautifully as I have. Sanity has been regained. For now. Thank you, dear God!)

Love to you all!

PS.) For an inspirational read on motherhood, from a very real person (and personal friend of mine) who would probably relate to this post, click HERE!

;)