Just something for Me

Being a mother is a thankless job.

So if you think that you'll get married and have kids and everyone will appreciate all the hard work it takes just to make a household function...well, forget it.

No one says "thanks for washing all the dishes, Mom" or "hey, mom, I see you scrubbed every inch of the bathroom because we're all slobs and somehow got poop UNDER the toilet seat. Thanks!"

You will, however, find yourself vacuuming 3 times a day because your family somehow produces their body weight in dust.
 No one will say  thank you for raising your children.Getting up in the middle of the night is just part of it.
 And more than once you will be deathly ill and still have to drag yourself out of bed to pack a lunch or fix a sippy cup.

I'm not saying all this to whine or complain, because that's not how I feel about it all.

My point is that moms don't do what they do for the thanks.

I know this, because I now realize everything my mom has done over the past 21(almost 22 woot woot) years without ever being thanked.

The reason that moms do what they do is love.

Not the mushy "i couldn't live without you, you complete me, we're soulmates" kind of love.

I'm talking about the "I wake up every morning and the first thing that comes to mind is how can I make them happy" kind of love, where self loses priority to others.

I can look back now and realize that even though my mom did so much for me and my sis, we failed to thank her for probably 99% of it.
But she did it anyway, and I think I know why.

She wasn't doing it so we would appreciate it.
If that was her motivation, she would have given up a long time ago.

She was doing it because 1) she loves us and 2) she wanted us to have everything we want and need in life.

My mom's a pretty cool chick.

For nearly 22 years she has worked full-time (although honestly it's more like 2 or 3 full time jobs.) She runs a business, runs a house, pours everything she has into EVERYONE ELSE, and never complains that "nobody ever says thanks. I'm not taking care of y'all anymore".

I know how hard my mom has worked and all the sacrifices she made and makes.

So to all of you who think you somehow deserve a Thank You, stop complaining.
If that's the reason you take care of your family, you probably need to look at your priorities and bump yourself down a few notches.

Motherhood is about your family.
 Marriage is about putting another person before yourself.
So instead of whining that life is hard, or that your husband doesn't appreciate what you do for him, try looking around at all the things that are possible because of you.

Sure, you have to get up early with the kids, but look how happy they are running wild and screaming and dancing. Isn't their happiness enough? 

I get to call myself a mom and wife to two beautiful girlies and a handsome police officer.
That's enough to make me happy.
I don't need anyone to tell me thanks  because I know exactly what their lives would be like without me: chaos.

It's easy for me to write all this in a blog post and seem happy, but I'm writing this post as a reminder to myself too.
I have days when I don't understand why no one even NOTICES all the things I have to do everyday.
I have moments (very long moments) when I just want to pitch a fit, lock the girls in their room, eat a chocolate bar, and go to sleep.
But I don't do that.
Ok, honestly I do pitch a fit in my head, and sometimes I eat the chocolate bar:)

Sometimes it just helps to write it all because when I write something about being positive and how much I do for my family, it sort of kicks me back into gear. I quit feeling sorry for myself and realize that life is good and I have all that I need.

I might WANT a lot more, but that's just selfishness.
I need to tell y'all how selfish I am sometimes because it kind of keeps my attitude in check and I feel embarrassed about acting so ridiculous.
So now that I'm all pumped up about not needing and thanks, I have some things to do and some surprises to plan:)