smartignani

Everyone that sees me running around or behind the three kids asks me – “How do you do it? You’ve got it together?”

The truth is, I don’t have it together. My house is full of laundry baskets of clean and folded clothes that need to be put away into drawers, my car needs a deep-cleaning and shampooing to remove the year-old milk stains from the time it exploded in the car and my Master’s Degree is on hold while I try and establish a business with my partner, work full-time and still be a good wife, daughter, mom, sister and friend.

My life is in shambles really, but I looked around the room tonight after I made Leek soup (yes I did and from scratch too) and all the kids were playing and laughing with one another. My middle daughter is chasing my youngest son who is almost two (oh my, time does fly) and she is just declaring, on repeat, “I love you Tintin, I love you so much”. She gets that from me. She is trying to kiss him and he is gleefully running away from her, with one hand in his pocket cause’ that’s how he rolls! 

Then my eldest grabs a random book off her shelf and comes over to sit on the floor inviting both younger siblings to plant themselves in front of her. She proceeds to read them a Dr. Seuss book about Feet- upside down, no less. She is a smart cookie.

I looked over at my husband who is washing dishes with a satisfied smirk on his face (or he could’ve been excited at the prospect of leaving our madhouse to go to Karate which he loves) and I thought “Yup, we are doing ok!”

The thing is, we are so hard on ourselves as parents. We always want to do more, say more, be more, snuggle more, encourage more and just play more. Sometimes, we are so critical of ourselves that we don’t stop to enjoy the fruit of our labour. Just think, your kids are healthy, they’re fed, they’re clean and they’re loved. Nothing matters more to them. Whether you live in a home, a condo, a farm or a one-bedroom apartment, you’re working so hard to keep a roof over their head. Your love and perseverance is undeniable and it shows.

It shows in their swagger. It shows in their smiles. It shows every time they go to school and speak about their hero – YOU. It shows in the sparkle of their eyes and when they fold their hands to pray for you and your health and your continued love for them.

You are their world. You are enough. You are their everything. You are more valuable than anything God gave them. Your approval, your amazement, your wisdom, your words of praise, your deeds of kindness, your humour, your cuddles and snuggles and everything you do is enough. It is all they need.

You got this. I got this. We got this.

Now if only my house, my laundry and my car would be satisfied with my love… not likely.