Moments of Grace and Gratefulnes
Well, I suppose it has been awhile, but it is hard to blog when you really have no topic in mind. Today: however, I find myself with the time and the topic.
Today is day number 6 of my 2 month stretch of single parenting (plus grandma, as she lives across the street). My husband has gotten the opportunity to continue his education and will one day be a duel ticketed electrician and instrumentation tech. So this May he set out to begin his first year of instrumentation.
Thankfully trades school is not full time (I don't think we could have handled that) and is crammed into an 8 weeks course. So while he is 4 hours away, staying with family and spending his time reading books, doing homework, and drinking Starbucks, here I am at home with a 4 year old and a 2 year old and 27 weeks pregnant!
I may have just heard some of you gasp! How could he possibly leave me for 8 weeks, alone, at the beginning of my third trimester? It is just how things have worked out and to be honest I am completely content with it. We have worked out weekends that he will either travel home or the kids and I will travel to see him.
I have been preparing for this for some time and I am super excited to see him learn new things and expand his skills. I am so proud of him and his desire to try new things and increase his expertise. It also helps when his company is paying for his school and maintaining his salary while he at school! Huge relief!
I will also admit that we both have small, selfish reasons for enjoying these weeks apart. And anyone who has ever been through the 3rd trimester, or has had to sleep with someone in their 3rd trimester, knows how relieving it can be to not have to share a bed! I can stretch out if I need to and I can cover the bed in my many pillows, one for my head, one for between my knees, one for me to drape my arm over and one for behind my back so I still feel something close. It really is quite the nest. And I don't have to disrupt his sleep with my tossing and turning. So we will survive.
But it was today that I was struck by how grateful I am for what I have, even if it means doing this parenting thing by myself for a while. I find myself too often taking for granted what I have been given and not enjoying the moments I am living through today.
A few things have struck me today as the kids and I wandered down our street to the playground. I was watching the kids playing and pushing them on swings and I realized once again how incredibly blessed I am to be able to spend my days with them and watch them grow and laugh and enjoy the world around them. This trying age of toddlerhood can be exhausting and at times I honestly just want to escape! But then there are moments like today when the peace and gratefulness of not having to go to work, of being able to take this kids for a walk, and watching them experience the world around them. Not having to miss the glee of my 2 year old arms spread wide, head lifted to the sky laughing and telling me to push her faster on the swing.
My heart was full today as my son serenaded me with my guitar as I made lunch or after lunch snuggling on the couch until my daughter fell until she fell asleep for her nap. I realize that this is a blessing and that not all moms are able to have this, but I am enormously grateful today that it is I, their mom, and not some stranger watching them grow and learn and experience the joy of life!
I take for granted the little lives that have been placed in my care and although I do not always remember to cherish every moment, today I do. And today I stand amazed at all I have been given and wouldn't trade for anything.
Today is day number 6 of my 2 month stretch of single parenting (plus grandma, as she lives across the street). My husband has gotten the opportunity to continue his education and will one day be a duel ticketed electrician and instrumentation tech. So this May he set out to begin his first year of instrumentation.
Thankfully trades school is not full time (I don't think we could have handled that) and is crammed into an 8 weeks course. So while he is 4 hours away, staying with family and spending his time reading books, doing homework, and drinking Starbucks, here I am at home with a 4 year old and a 2 year old and 27 weeks pregnant!
I may have just heard some of you gasp! How could he possibly leave me for 8 weeks, alone, at the beginning of my third trimester? It is just how things have worked out and to be honest I am completely content with it. We have worked out weekends that he will either travel home or the kids and I will travel to see him.
I have been preparing for this for some time and I am super excited to see him learn new things and expand his skills. I am so proud of him and his desire to try new things and increase his expertise. It also helps when his company is paying for his school and maintaining his salary while he at school! Huge relief!
I will also admit that we both have small, selfish reasons for enjoying these weeks apart. And anyone who has ever been through the 3rd trimester, or has had to sleep with someone in their 3rd trimester, knows how relieving it can be to not have to share a bed! I can stretch out if I need to and I can cover the bed in my many pillows, one for my head, one for between my knees, one for me to drape my arm over and one for behind my back so I still feel something close. It really is quite the nest. And I don't have to disrupt his sleep with my tossing and turning. So we will survive.
But it was today that I was struck by how grateful I am for what I have, even if it means doing this parenting thing by myself for a while. I find myself too often taking for granted what I have been given and not enjoying the moments I am living through today.
A few things have struck me today as the kids and I wandered down our street to the playground. I was watching the kids playing and pushing them on swings and I realized once again how incredibly blessed I am to be able to spend my days with them and watch them grow and laugh and enjoy the world around them. This trying age of toddlerhood can be exhausting and at times I honestly just want to escape! But then there are moments like today when the peace and gratefulness of not having to go to work, of being able to take this kids for a walk, and watching them experience the world around them. Not having to miss the glee of my 2 year old arms spread wide, head lifted to the sky laughing and telling me to push her faster on the swing.
My heart was full today as my son serenaded me with my guitar as I made lunch or after lunch snuggling on the couch until my daughter fell until she fell asleep for her nap. I realize that this is a blessing and that not all moms are able to have this, but I am enormously grateful today that it is I, their mom, and not some stranger watching them grow and learn and experience the joy of life!
I take for granted the little lives that have been placed in my care and although I do not always remember to cherish every moment, today I do. And today I stand amazed at all I have been given and wouldn't trade for anything.
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