Dazed and Crazed

There are so many times that I am unnecessarily overwhelmed.
Now don't get me wrong, life with 3 kids is no piece of cake, but there are moments in the every day life that I allow myself to get short fused and stressed out... and for what?

Because we are 5 minutes later than I planned? Am I stressed to the max because my kids are simply being kids? Yes I know the spilling of their drink (yet again!), and the screaming "mmoommmmyyyy, he hit me!!" grate at my nerves... The constant mess, dishes galore, and the pee...  it is literally everywhere!

It all makes me feel dazed and crazed and then I stop and think... isn't this what I signed up for? Isn't this my dream? To be a mom and have the ability to stay home with them? This is THE LIFE! So why do I feel like at times I could just pull my hair out, or maybe accidentally drop them off at GoodWill? (only joking... sort of) There are times I want to just throw in the towel and slap a 'Return To Sender' label on their foreheads (Good thing that isn't an option because I probably would have tried!)

But then I remember that this season of life is something to soak up. Enjoy. Live and learn, teach and finger paint. This isn't the only "season" that will be challenging. They all will be! It is our job as parents to lead by example and teach the really important lessons.

It is the fact that being on time to an event on my schedule is not as important as teaching my child how to react in a stressful situation, even if you're five minutes late because of it. And it is ok she spilled her drink, but my responsibility to teach her how to handle it. They have to make the mistake in order to learn how to handle it... and I have the very important job of teaching them to react a specific way... and that teaching happens through my actions. Not my words.

It has been MY attitude that sucks. Not theirs. They are living and learning how to cope when life throws curves. They are learning that mistakes happen and its ok, it is how you pick yourself and try again where growth occurs... We get to teach them that when life is stressful how to laugh, brush it off, and be a light when everyone else is negative. We GET to teach them how to be successful through trials and chaos. Yet here I am pulling my hair out over her 3rd attempt at tying her shoes... or his inability to get dressed faster than a snail. Here I am yelling "HURRY UP!", instead of teaching them quicker ways to manage their morning. I need a reality check... because they won't be here much longer. A dear friend told me don't think of it as years, but Christmases... reality sets in then. I have 12 more Christmases with my oldest. That's nuts! I have 12 Christmases to teach her all that life has to offer before she's in the world, handling stress and chaos on her own.

I guess I hope one day they look back and say, "I am so grateful my mom and dad showed me how to react when life gets crazy!" I hope they see themselves as lights in a negative world... and I really hope one day I get to witness my kids handling life the way I hope to model to them in the coming opportunities.

Are the day to day life stresses going anywhere? No, they most certainly are not.
But I truly hope to reign in my stress levels and save them for the true necessary stressful times, and not because I heard "MOMMY!!" one too many times. I want to learn to identify true stress in my life, so they can learn to see it in theirs.