By: Daina Sparling

When your nights are long, and your days seem endless, remember these things.

Wisdom for the Weary

If you feel like you can’t get out of you pajamas, don’t. There’s nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow. Eat Kraft Dinner and frozen peas for supper. Let your kids take a bath at 11am. Take a nap if your children do, and if they don’t, put on a long movie, lay on the couch with them. Maintain only enough consciousness to mediate disaster.

Be easy on yourself

There’s enough people in the world who expect that you do more, be more, without you adding to the burden. You are a good mom. Your kids love you, even if you’re in sweats and a too small t-shirt that shows your muffin top. All they will remember is that you were there – wiping noses, doing puzzles, making sandwiches, and playing make believe. You were there at night when the dragons were coming, or the monsters threatened to leave the closet. You let them wear rubber boots to bed and read the same book 14 times in one day. You allowed them to make bad decisions so they could learn, even though it grieved your heart to see them weep.

Oh those tears…

And you wiped away the tears, the never ending tears. Tears because of broken toys, toast cut into 4 and not 2, tears of heartache because they miss their daddy, or because little sister knocked down the tower. You were there, beautiful in your disarray. You were there when it was difficult to love them, when it was difficult to love yourself.

And, Lord willing, you will be there when the laughter peels from their lips, and the tears being shed are of incandescent joy. When they walk down the aisle with the one who stole their heart, or triumph over failure. When they hand you a small bundle that has your eyes. This is your legacy, this is your reward.

Every moment spent together was the best and worst, the most difficult and easiest simultaneously. Never regretted, always cherished. This time is precious – it will never be reclaimed, like raindrops falling in the ground, it cannot be gathered up and stored for later, or told to wait. Do with it what you may, let it make you into who you want to be.

Let love guide you.

Daina is wife to Darryl, mother to Jacob (2 years) and Audrey (3 weeks) who lives in Edmonton, Alberta. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends and looks forward to the day where she can once again have more than 3 hours consecutive sleep.