Don’t cry over spilled milk. I’m not sure who first quoted it but it meant nothing to me the first time I heard it or the second, third, and probaby closest toward the upteenth (whatever that means) time. But now being a mother to nine it speaks volumes. As parents the most important things we need to know and take heed to is the aforementioned quote and this; we must take accountability for our part in our children’s actions.⬅ That statement, I believe, may even far superceded the spilled milk. This comes to me as I am sweeping up the dining room floor this morning not only the fresh mess one of the littles made but the mountain full of crumbs one of the bigs “missed” upon cleaning after dinner last night but we’ll talk about that later.
This morning we had an unscheduled visit from the Department of Social Services worker so Thomas was vacuuming the floor. Me, being the fancy girl that I am, suggested we use the arm and hammer carpet fresh to spruce things up since it smells so lovely (No I did not get paid for that plug but do not mind if I do *hint*). Anyhow, upon completion of the sprinkle, he or myself; I will neither confirm nor deny the allegations that it was me (even though it probably was), but ONE of us placed it on the dinning room table and Thomas proceeded to vacuum. We have our visit and began to pack up to run some errands. I walk into the dining room and see the floor. Needs to be swept because there were crumbs on the floor I presumed from breakfast. As I am sweeping I notice a massive amount of white powder on the floor, no, not THAT white powder. I walk over and quickly realize what it is given the aroma. I simply extend my sweeping range and get it up.
As I swept I mentallly went back in time to when had only two children. I would have been livid at the fact that my hard earned money was now being swept into the dust pan with breakfast crumbs….. and rice? We’ll get back to that.
Yet, here I am cool calm and collected with a smile on my face.
Life is filled with aggravations and frustrations and sometime, heck, most times it’s misdirected. This could have easily been one of the times. I have very long days, usually starting at around 5:30 in the morninng with the prayer line I lead followed by getting the bigs off to school and getting the littles fed and organized and starting on a plethora of to dos with either one of the companies and the day goes on and on with me calling it a “day” around 2:00 if I’m “lucky”. The day surely filled with tears and anger. When working from home it is not as easy to not bring your work home as some would say, you more have to have a switch to turn off and on at appropriate times which is in no way easy, doable but not easy. With that being said, I have foumd myself in many situations where I have allowed the dealings of my workday affect how I interact with my family and how I act with them. Its horrible. I always regret it. Sometimes it makes me want to give it all up and focus on being 100% mom, nothing more. That could never be so because of the way I am set up. So I make the best of it, learn from my mistakes, and vow to do better the next day.
The bottom line is, had the arm and hammer been placed in its proper place immediately after using it, it would not have been on my floor. I had to take responsibility for that not only as a parent but as a person. So no one was chastised and my blood pressure wasn’t raised. I say all the time that life can be beautiful and I believe that. It takes baby steps but it is possible.
Now about this rice from last night….. ISSAAIIAAHHHHHH!
-Rush
JustAskMaia 