Lucky Me

I spend my days picking up abandoned socks and tiny Lego pieces.  I am never caught up on laundry.  My feet and back ache from the hours spent standing in the kitchen preparing food that will most likely sit untouched on colorful plastic plates.  There are always cheerios, bread crumbs, and crayons scattered under the kitchen table no matter how often I sweep.  If I need to go out, it will take me approximately 20 minutes just to get all 10 shoes on the right feet, 5 sweatshirts zipped up, tiny bladders emptied, and all the little bodies buckled into carseats safely.  

I also spend my days laughing at silly jokes and hilarious "one liners".  I get kisses and hugs - sometimes for no reason at all.  I hear giggles in the playroom and I am amazed the Lego creations and drawings that are presented to me for approval.  The laundry I am never caught up on consists of soccer jerseys, bike shorts, and other indications of a fun and active life.  I love to hang tiny t-shirts on tiny hangers and sort Spiderman and Tinkerbell underwear.  Even though many hours will pass and food will go cold before its finished, I'll be told it was the best dinner ever.  When I go out, it will make me smile to catch a glimpse of the 5 adorable faces in the rear-view mirror, filling all the available seats back there. 
I've been told I'm the world's best mom on the world's worst days.            

We have a house.  A tiny house.  I love this house.  We brought 3 of my babies home from the hospital here and the other 2 were too young to even remember our other home.  We have a yard.  A tiny yard.  My dog loves that yard and the fence that Jake and his dad built to really make that yard our own. 

There are times, especially lately, when I feel like I need more space.  A bigger house, a bigger yard.  And a garage?  Oh please a garage!!  I don't think I can stand another day with the dog kennel in the kitchen and the bikes in my bedroom.  And all that time I spend in the laundry room?  It would be oh so bearable - even blissful - if I could actually move around in the laundry room without tripping over all the tools and boxes of food storage.

And then there are times, especially lately, when I feel blessed.  So very blessed.  I have a great family.  Jake is my best friend and we have the best kids.  We are safe and warm and we're together.  We are all healthy.  We are all happy.  We work hard together.  We have fun together. 
We have so much when others have lost so much.

Today was St. Patrick's Day. All the scrambling around trying to find enough green for everyone to wear got me thinking about those little Leprechauns and their lucky shamrocks.  Maybe I've got more Irish in me than I thought because, wow . . .  

Lucky me.