Why I Love the Mess

Thanksgiving day is almost over and I successfully cooked an awesome meal for friends and family.  Now that the crowd is gone and the kids are in bed, I am thinking about what I'm really grateful for.  I'm thankful for my home, my freedom, and my husband's job, among other things.  At the risk of sounding cliche, I have to say that I'm also very thankful for my family.  My family means a lot to me and I express my gratitude for them often, but I thought it would be instructive to stop and explore why, exactly, I'm grateful for my family.  More specifically, why am I grateful for my children who make messes and drive me a little bit bonkers?  (Of course it goes without saying that my husband is perfect, so obviously no explanation is needed there.)

Here are some reasons I came up with for why I love the crazy little people in my life:

1.  I am grateful for my built-in alarm clock.  It comes snooze-button-free as an industry standard and for the past 11 years, God has given me a replacement every time one gets old enough to think twice before waking their cranky non-morning-person mommy.  These little alarm clocks have encouraged me to embrace the adage, 'Early to bed, early to rise; makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.'  Just for the record, I am far from embracing said adage at this point in my life, but I'm grateful that they have given me a reason to get an early start for the past 11 years because there's no way I would have otherwise.

2.  My children inspire me.  For reasons I can't explain and will never understand, I get my best ideas when there are kids running around creating chaos.  I can't control when inspiration strikes so I have learned to accept it.  And keep lots of sticky notes handy to record my ideas.  (Oh, and I'm also thankful for sticky notes--up until a year ago, that is--and now I'm grateful for my iphone with a built-in pad of never ending sticky notes.)

3.  They give me something to look forward to every single night.... bedtime!
Just kidding.
Sort of... let me explain.
While I do relish the silence that spreads through our home after the kids go to bed in comparison to the noise of a crazy day, one of my favorite things to do is to sneak into my kids' rooms while they are sleeping and just watch them sleep.  They resemble angels in this state, and I feel privileged to witness the innocence on their sleeping faces every single night.  Watching them sleep melts the hard out of any day and fills me up with peace in preparation to tackle yet another tomorrow.

4.  They take my mind off of other things.  As a perpetual worry wart, I am prone to working myself into a tizzy over whatever national or social disaster is currently ensuing.  Taking care of my kids pulls me out of panic mode and helps me to focus on the things I have control over rather than the things I do not.

5.  Okay, I simply must put in one about my husband.  Even though it's a given that I'm thankful for him, because he's so perfect... (are you reading this, babe?).  Anyway, I am grateful for a husband who knows me better than I know myself.  He believes in me.  He grounds me.  He encourages me to shoot for the stars, but only if I decide to first.

6.  I'm grateful for the little worker minions that we have bred.  Sure, it took a few years for them to mature enough, but they are really useful these days.  This past summer they worked very hard in the backyard pulling weeds, they have been raking leaves all fall, and just yesterday they helped me clean the house top to bottom in preparation for the Thanksgiving group we were hosting.  They aren't always happy about helping, but when push comes to shove, they buckle down and get it done.  (Although I do have to admit that sometimes money is involved.  Like with the fall leaves.  But yesterday they worked to pay me back for the privilege of living in our home rent-free these many years.)

7.  They remind me that I'm not alone.  If I were, my house certainly wouldn't be this messy!  But, as annoying as the messes usually are, they remind me that my house is full of life and I wouldn't have it any other way.  There are six people here who will love me forever (even if on some days they would argue otherwise).


Happy Thanksgiving!