Mother's Day

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

I'm a little late with my celebratory post and well wishes for a wonderful holiday.

Nonetheless, I hope all of my mom friends had a fantastic day.

It sure is awesome being a mom.  Isn't it?!

Although it's the most wonderful and most rewarding job I've ever had, at times it sure seems to be the most challenging.

Like most mom's of toddlers and school kids, our "end-of-school year / beginning of summer" calendar has been super-amped and over-scheduled lately.

Hence, my lack of attention to my blog.

Just trying to keep all of the school activities and play dates straight has simply been overwhelming.  

Not to mention parties we've hosted, parties we've attended, spontaneous road trips we've taken, various church functions where we've committed, and my volunteering commitments all squeezed in there.

It's certainly a struggle to stay organized and ensure that I don't walk out the door still wearing my pajamas.

Sadly and seriously, that's truly a concern.

Anyway, the other day while frantically rushing to make Zuppa Toscana for dinner, I had a cooking accident.

Prior to the accident, my son was making me nutty by asking me to help him with his many"projects".  He always has "projects".

This is what the incident looked like:

I put a pot on the stove...

Rush over to help him...

Put some olive oil in the pot...

Rush over to help him...

Crush some garlic in my garlic press and put it in the pot...

Rush over to help him...

Slice the onions and throw them in the pot with the garlic...

Rush over to help him...

Start slicing the potatoes...

Rush over to help him...

Slice my thumb while missing the potato...

OUCH!!!!!!!!    OUCH!!!!!!!!     Oh my heavens ...... OUCH!!!!!!!!

I had been so crazed and flustered with my son's constant demands for attention that I had sliced my thumb all the way down to the meat part!

The cut was deep and I couldn't get it to stop bleeding.

At that moment, my husband walked in the door from work and I - JUST - LOST - IT !

Withstanding my crazy babble and uncontrollable tears, he patched me up and then tended to our son who had been peaking around the corner and listening to me rant about how difficult it is to be everything to everyone.

I took a time out and just prayed for peace.

That evening while putting my son to sleep, we knelt down at his bedside for his bedtime prayer.

And here's what he prayed:

"Dear God, please heal Mommy and me.  Thank you for Jesus.  I love You.  Amen."

I fought back the tears, tucked him into bed, told him thank you for his beautiful prayer, and slowly slipped out of his room.

Once I saw my husband downstairs on the couch, I repeated his prayer and the tears just flowed once again.

Except these tears weren't tears of pain and frustration that he experienced earlier from me, these were tears of undeniable jubilation.

On this Mother's Day, I learned a very big lesson in motherhood.

Simplify - Simplify - Simplify!

I - MUST - SIMPLIFY!

If I don't have time to make dinner, we're going out.

If I can't think straight because of the many functions that we have on our calendar, we're deleting a few.

If my son needs me to help him with his precious little "projects", I"m putting down the knife!

Being a mom is certainly the most rewarding job I've ever had, but it doesn't have to be the most challenging.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  - Philippians 4:6-7