I am tired. Oh, am I tired.
All around this world, there are mothers, and I can guarantee you, that they too are tired.
We basically run the world. We bring up our children, we cook, clean, read stories, kiss scraped knees, and encourage our children. We do these things and still take care of ourselves, our home, our jobs, and our families. All the while the world is judging our every movement, because nobody is ever perfect, and that could be just a few reasons why mothers are tired. Although, I think it's something different.
My babes wreck me during the day, they chip away at my patience little by little and right at the end of the day, when I am just one chip away from completely crumbling into a dusty pile of motherly residue, they fall asleep. All at once, I become a human again, I can watch a shows, or call a friend. Maybe I will read a book or take a long bath? Maybe I do these things, or maybe I cut right to the chase. Not one single night goes by without this happening. Its inevitable.
There I am, tired and longing for my pillow, but I'm standing over my child, just smiling, marveling at these perfect little children that I made.
Their eyelashes, their sweet half smiles, their fuzzy warm heads, I am too tired to finish the laundry… But I am going to take them in.
My oldest is 3 and a half, and just typing that out makes my stomach drop. I'm not ready for her to not need me, I am not ready for it to be weird if I watched over her as she slept (when does that even happen?) How many sleeps do I have left? How many more times will I be blessed to have been woken up and have to get her a water, or a snuggle? How many lullabies do I have left to sing? This motherhood thing has just gone so, so fast. Last I remember they were plopping seven pounds and ten ounces of wrinkly, pink baby in my lap, and this isn't fair. Time is escaping me and the stupid dishes can just wait.
This is why I'm tired. I'm tired because motherhood, childhood, and life just goes too fast, and I don't know how many snuggles on the sofa I have left. I'm tired, and I will complain about it, but one day when they are too big, too grown and too cool for me, I will smile on the memories, and the time I gave them, and then maybe, I will get some sleep.
This is the real reason moms are tired, not because we are constantly doing, not because the world is putting a huge amount of pressure on us, no. We are tired because we just cannot stop giving our children our love, not even when it’s our turn to rest.
***