Moms have a lot on their plates every day.
Parents sometimes have a lot on their plates and little time for leisure due to the various tasks they manage during the day. Some of these responsibilities include washing their children’s sticky hands and faces, folding laundry, making sure they eat breakfast and lunch, and getting them ready for school.
No matter how hard they try, there will always be some kind of catastrophe lurking around the corner—like a toy you trip over, a milkglass that gets knocked over, or a stain somewhere.
Many mothers are unable to afford the luxury of having a brief shower before bed or of having some alone time.
Heather Duckworth, a mother who has seen it all, commented on some of the things we take for granted as parents in a column she just penned.
The mess kids make as they change into the individuals we’ve always imagined them to be in front of our eyes is a vital part of that process.
It’s important to remember that our children will use the messes we cleaned up when they were adults as the strongest testament to the upbringing we gave them, so even in the midst of chaos, it’s worthwhile to try to find happiness.
Sadly, not every woman gets to experience the mayhem and disorder that children cause.
Furthermore, not all parents are able to enjoy the joy that children bring into their lives.
The highly shared post “The Blue Stain” by Heather struck a chord with a lot of expectant and new moms.
Heather’s heart raced remembering the disaster she had to clean up all those years ago as she scrubbed the grout her daughter had made with the slime.
After a rigorous day of chasing after her two-year-old triplets and her four-year-old elder brother, picking up toys, and making sure no one got hurt in the mounds of laundry she was unable to finish that day, this mother would think, “My hands were full, but so was my heart.”
Before calling it a night, Heather and her two sons cleaned up the playroom and danced to the radio.
Nobody could have predicted that it would be the last time they would laugh so much in a long time.
As she prepared to turn in for the night, she heard one of the boys mutter, “Uh, Oh,” and saw the massive blue stain that would accompany her everywhere for the rest of her life.
A pen belonging to one of the triplets burst in his grasp, scattering ink everywhere. The child’s face, hands, and blue pajamas gave the impression that it was a smurf.
As she watched, Heather was angry and thought she was a bad mother.
Despite her lack of anger towards her son, she did hold herself accountable for leaving the pen in a location that children could easily get. She succumbed to her feelings.
“I became alarmed when I saw enormous pools of ink leaking into our brand-new carpet and blue splatters all over the floor. I called out to my husband, who had been doing the dishes, to come help me. As soon as I retrieved my youngster and carried him to the bathroom to clean him up, my spouse started to remove those bright blue stains from our carpet. I became angry right away.
Whenever Heather saw the stain on the brand-new carpet, she would frequently become irate and agitated. The stain stood for all the lovely moments she had with her sons until the day it was finally erased.
The tiny child was diagnosed with cancer one month after he spilt blue paint on the carpet. He died two years later, leaving the mark as a memento of their time spent together.
It was still there, but it was now a constant reminder of my child. It was a constant reminder of how annoying I was over something so small and unimportant in the big picture.
The blue stain acted as a constant reminder that life is valuable even in spite of its chaos. a constant reminder to put the trivial things out of your mind. a constant reminder that people are more important than “things” and accidents do happen. a constant reminder to let go of the little things and cling to what matters.
The brilliant blue stain was there, staring back at her every time she cleared the area, a continual reminder of her loss and the pain she was still feeling. She tried to cover it up with the furniture.
The story of Heather is meant to act as a reminder of how easily we take life for granted and fail to notice the little things that give our lives meaning. She is driven to inform all mothers that their dirty clothes and stray toys are actually what provide their families a sense of security and comfort in their homes.
Because we will one day genuinely miss those moments, as Heather puts it, the messes made by the ones we love the most are what give our life purpose.”I’d gladly take a million blue ink stains on my carpet to get to spend one more day with my son.”
She advises women not to lose out on spending important time with their children by getting too caught up in the world. Life is too short to waste time removing stains, so prioritize what truly matters!
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