I'd Like to Thank the Academy...

Being a Mom can be a thankless job. Seriously! This week I find myself near fuming at the fact that no one seems to notice that I am just plugging along, making sure everyone else’s life is running smoothly, and that all their basic needs are met, while I am falling apart at the seams!! I’ve been sick for a week now, and I haven’t been able to call in sick, sleep in, or just go nap whenever I feel the need. The other day as I was cleaning up the Kitchen after lunch, and I was contemplating the fact that it is my job to keep this household ticking...I felt myself getting SO frustrated!!! Who is going to take care of me? Who is going to offer me sympathy? Who is going to step in and help out with all the everyday stuff so I can have a break? Now normally, that would be my husband...however, he is sick too, and apparently more sick than I am, because he actually gets to take a sick day today, and stay in bed.

In the middle of my rant to the toaster, I realized that I am likely not the first Mom to feel this way. Nor will it be the last time in my reign that I will be sick and have to suck it up and get on with life. While this thought didn’t make me feel any better, it did bring a stroke of reality that smacked me upside the head and made me loosen my grip on the innocent loaf of bread that I was unknowingly taking out my frustration on. As calmer heads prevailed, I realized that I really needed to lose the selfish attitude and search my heart for what needed to come from all this. Then it hit me. I had an even bigger job to do than scrape the sweet potatoes off the high chair. I needed to say Thanks. To you; the other moms out there who likely often feel that your efforts are going unnoticed...and yet keep on “keepin’ on.” So from the bottom of my heart...

Thank you. For all the nights you went without sleep, so your newborn could (in your arms), or your teething infant or sick child could be comforted.

Thanks for sacrificing your career, so your children could benefit from having you home each and every tiring day.

Thank you for going without a monthly pay-check and cutting back on some of the finer things in life so your basket of diapers is always full, and your kids can be clothed each day.

Thanks for working tirelessly to provide healthy and creative meals on your table day after day...despite all the times you could have just ordered out. And for caring enough to grind up the spinach and eggplant and hide them in the casserole, so your picky eater is getting the required serving of vegetables.

Thanks for scrubbing floors and toilets during afternoon naptime, when you would have rather put your feet up and enjoyed a book, or your favourite T.V show.

Thanks for kissing all the scrapes, bumps and bangs, and caring enough to brighten your kid’s day with a Hello Kitty or Spiderman Band-aid...even though there was no blood.

Thank You for cheerfully operating the “Mommy Taxi” and in spite of the tight schedule, making a concerted effort to be there when it’s time to get picked up.

Thanks for reading “Goodnight Moon,” 4,386 times, and for never skipping any pages.

Thank You for singing, when you really felt like yelling.

Thanks for doing all this, even on the days you were sick, tired, sad, depressed, lonely and even angry.

Thanks for being a thoughtful, loving, dedicated Mom...and doing so knowing full well that likely no one would notice. But I noticed. And I am thinking of you today, and inspired to let go of my selfish need for some sympathy and recognition. May I remind you that your reward, my friend, is in Heaven. And I do believe that the jewels in your crown will out shine anything else on Glory’s Red Carpet.