The business of being the Mom

I've been thinking about motherhood for a while now. (like 11 years, what?!)
I mean, this is my life's work.

My Magnum Opus, if you will.

And I still feel like I haven't really gotten started. I have all these visions....imaginations of what a mom could be. Should be, maybe. And I have highly polished intentions of becoming That Mom.



But I've been at this gig for 11 years now. And I'm learning that my imagination and real life rarely (if ever) meet.
(I'm a slow learner sometimes)

When a business succeeds, you can only see it after years of work. One blaze of glory does not a true accomplishment make! So I aspire to being like that company that  has been around for 100 years or more. Doing what they do- the way they do it- and doing it well. No delusions of grandeur. No pomp or circumstance. Just the doing-- doing it well.
I don't think any of those places started out thinking about their 100th year, though. They began where they were and built a bit at a time. Always building, but not to the point of breaking.

SO
instead of continuing to polish my ideals and daydream them into reality, I'm taking this mother's day to conduct inventory.  To recognize that the everydays ARE the business.
That folding laundry while chasing a crawler and driving back and forth to school and piano and gymnastics and soccer (we're adding soccer!?!?) sweeping and wiping and washing...
the lather, rinse, repeat of life as a mom IS the business.
And I've committed to this company- my heart is in the details and the dirty work. My soul is in the reminders and reminiscing. Every grimy giggle and stinky snuggle!! They are the work I do.
These MONKEYS are the work I do.

SO I'm going to do it well. I'm going to remember the goal (these monkeys will become fully capable, kind, conscientious human beings and I will finally get to take a nap!) and I will slowly, consistently create a work I can be proud of.

I don't actually love this holiday (in years past it's not been a day for me to relish my position as much as a day to wish longingly for just a day away....)
But this year the expectations are different.
I will bathe and dress kids (finding the church clothes that always magically disappear) and I will get myself as ready as possible before 9:00 church. I will still be the mom-- because this job is Q1*. And I'm going to love it.

I will make every effort to SEE myself being a mother. Maybe I'm not That Mom.
But I am this mom-- and I'm going to do this well.
The doing is the business- and I'm there! Eleven years in--we're up and rolling!
We'll earn the established 100 years ago sign in no time!

Happy Mother's Day!

*Q1 is a reference to our doctor world. In residency, The Doctor had days when he was 'On Call' which meant 24 hours straight of being at the hospital- meeting patient needs and doing work and hopefully getting a little rest. Depending on what kind of doctor you are, and how many others you work with, you do this routine every few days. If it's every 5 days, it's called Q5. If it's every 3 days it's Q3. It's rough, but it doesn't last forever. (It's where the term residency actually comes from. Those first doctors were literally residents of the hospital!)
 Life as a mother is Q1. All day, every day. Meeting needs and doing work and hopefully getting a little rest.