Hole-y Knees
Motherhood drives me to my knees.
If I’m not down on all fours trying to clean up the remnants of the previous meal, I’m likely searching under sofas and coffee tables for the missing piece to our favourite puzzle. Then there are all the boots to put on, zippers to do up and Velcro to fasten if we happen to be venturing out of the house. Or, as any mom of a toddler knows, the way you have to get down at eye-level to convey that this time you “really, really mean it!”
You also tend to spend a lot more time on your hands and knees when you play with a boy. Not that my daughter doesn’t command her fair share of horsie rides on Mommy’s back, or “roll on the floor tickle fights” where we both end up giggling until we cry, but with little girls you tend to spend a lot of time sitting at tables having tea parties with one eyed dolls, or prancing around the kitchen in a regal parade of fairy princesses. With boys you are on all fours driving tractors through “shag carpet turned wheat field,” or (in our case) determined to crawl into the midst of whatever delicate set-up your sister has engineered and does not want her little brother upsetting.
And let’s not forget diaper changing. There comes a point in time when the change table is just too dangerous a venue for the feat of gymnastics that is diaper changing, and getting down on the floor on your hands and knees is the safest plan of attack.
In any case, I’m wearing stylish(?) holes into the knees of most of my jeans.
It’s not so bad, really. My aching knees are simply a reminder that motherhood is best approached from this position. If I’m already down on my knees, I might as well spend some time in prayer, petitioning the One who has brought me here in the first place. And there is so much to talk to Him about these days; hopes for the futures of my children, strength and grace for another day, creativity to last through another spell of cold winter weather that renders you housebound and stir crazy, and patience...always patience.
I’m realizing that I can’t do this “Mom thing” very well standing up. When I do, I tend to miss the little things...and sometimes the really big things. I just seem to lose perspective.
It’s a good thing a major grocery store now carries $19 jeans, because I’ll likely go through a few more pairs before this stage of my life is over. The way I see it...if I’m not on my knees, then perhaps I’m not doing my job.
If I’m not down on all fours trying to clean up the remnants of the previous meal, I’m likely searching under sofas and coffee tables for the missing piece to our favourite puzzle. Then there are all the boots to put on, zippers to do up and Velcro to fasten if we happen to be venturing out of the house. Or, as any mom of a toddler knows, the way you have to get down at eye-level to convey that this time you “really, really mean it!”
You also tend to spend a lot more time on your hands and knees when you play with a boy. Not that my daughter doesn’t command her fair share of horsie rides on Mommy’s back, or “roll on the floor tickle fights” where we both end up giggling until we cry, but with little girls you tend to spend a lot of time sitting at tables having tea parties with one eyed dolls, or prancing around the kitchen in a regal parade of fairy princesses. With boys you are on all fours driving tractors through “shag carpet turned wheat field,” or (in our case) determined to crawl into the midst of whatever delicate set-up your sister has engineered and does not want her little brother upsetting.
And let’s not forget diaper changing. There comes a point in time when the change table is just too dangerous a venue for the feat of gymnastics that is diaper changing, and getting down on the floor on your hands and knees is the safest plan of attack.
In any case, I’m wearing stylish(?) holes into the knees of most of my jeans.
It’s not so bad, really. My aching knees are simply a reminder that motherhood is best approached from this position. If I’m already down on my knees, I might as well spend some time in prayer, petitioning the One who has brought me here in the first place. And there is so much to talk to Him about these days; hopes for the futures of my children, strength and grace for another day, creativity to last through another spell of cold winter weather that renders you housebound and stir crazy, and patience...always patience.
I’m realizing that I can’t do this “Mom thing” very well standing up. When I do, I tend to miss the little things...and sometimes the really big things. I just seem to lose perspective.
It’s a good thing a major grocery store now carries $19 jeans, because I’ll likely go through a few more pairs before this stage of my life is over. The way I see it...if I’m not on my knees, then perhaps I’m not doing my job.
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