While feeling a little guilty about needing a break from my kids today, I thought, if only I could be more like Jesus who said, “Let the little children COME to me...”. Then, it hit me: what if Jesus was saying that because he saw the frazzled moms in the crowd with children hanging off them like monkeys off a tree and knew that, “Bless their sweet, momma hearts, those women need a break, I’ll tell those little children to come to ME before their moms go INSANE!!”.
Okay...so that is just my (more than likely slightly faulty!) Tara Theology but I will say there are days the last thing I’m thinking is, “Let the little children COME to me...”, instead, I’m thinking, “Let the little children GO from me!!” Just being real here, not too spiritual or Mother Teresa-ish, I guess!
Speaking of Mother Teresa, just the other day my good friend and I were lamenting our shortcomings of patience and ever-enduring kindness as compared to the wonderful example set by the late Mother Teresa when my friend pointed out that at least Mother Teresa could, “get away from those children once in awhile” and I wondered if they would have driven her nuts from time to time if they were her own children, hmmm...!! Once again: not super spiritual here, just being real!
Don’t get me wrong, 99.9% of the time, I am CRAZY about my sweet lil’ darlings!! The other .1% of the time, they are DRIVING ME CRAZY and I need a BREAK! Okay, okay...so sometimes it’s actually 99.9% of the time they drive me CRAZY, who am kiddin’ here?! (smile)
Alas, I ever-so-fondly recall those new parent days when I had only one or two little angels, I would feel SO guilty and dreadfully sad to ever leave them. I remember smothering them in kisses, departing at turtle-speed, and leaving an obnoxious amount of instructions (including a no less than twenty typed pages of schedules, special dietary considerations and stimulating play ideas) with the (wide-eyed and terrified-looking) babysitter who had just undergone an in-depth interviewing process and intense background checks that would make trying to get into the CIA seem like a breeze after that!
Oh what heights I have fallen from! Now, when I have a (RARE!!) opportunity to escape, I burn rubber outta the driveway so fast that the (blessed and loved with more love than I ever dreamed possible) babysitter is shouting after me, “Wait!! Is there anything I should know?! And...do you even know my name??”
“DOESN’T MATTER!! YOU’RE TAKING ALL OF MY CHILDREN FOR AN HOUR, I LOVE YOU ALREADY!!”
The new expectation for when I do come back home (and yes, I always come back!) is,
1. Are they alive?
2. Is the babysitter alive?
Check, check? Good to go.
I love my children. I do...I do...I really, really do...(is it working yet? Trying a little self-brainwashing here...). But even though I love each one of them more than I ever thought would be possible, I love them even MORE when I get a breather from them now and then. When the world around me is blissfully quiet for 60 wonderful minutes while I sip a latte, I am a new mom: a better, more SANE mom! Heck, some days I’ll take even 60 SECONDS of that.
And on the days I don’t get a break, in those moments where I’m practicing baby-triage (the loudest cryer gets my attention first), the encouraging words of Jesus echo in my head, “Let the little children come to me.” Take ‘em, Jesus! Take ‘em for a minute and thanks for understanding that us mommas need a break. Forget about just taking the wheel, Jesus--you can take the WHOLE car once I load up all the kids in it!! Thanks, Jesus, for not making us feel guilty for not being super-moms 24/7. I just ain't THAT spiritual!! If there is ANYONE we can be real with, it’s Jesus. If there is any PLACE we can be frazzled and it’s okay, it’s at the foot of the cross where Jesus also said,
“All who are weary (with little monkeys?) and heavy-laden (with non-stop responsibilities of being a mother?), come to ME and I will give you REST.” (Matthew 11:27-29)
Now that’s a promise that refreshes this sometimes-going-insane momma-heart!!
