I was having a conversation today with the guy who came to clean our carpet. He walked in our house as I have the windows open and my three children are running around outside and begging to come in every couple of seconds. “How many kids do you have?” he asked. “Three,” I answered back. “They are three, five, and seven. I’m right in the thick of it.” “You just wait,” he replied. “My oldest is graduating college this weekend,” he told me. “Just yesterday she was running around just like they are.” he finished.
I know he’s right. But as any parent knows, these days are long. Really long. The only reason this guy was over at our house was because I came home from picking up the kids from school to find a mess all over the carpet from our dogs. It was just another thing added to an already stressful day. I wanted to run into the closet and cry. To top it off, I was jet lagged from a work trip, behind on my over-growing to-do list, and my kids decided that it was a good idea to dump the bath water outside of the bathtub.
I admit that I rushed bedtime and made it a bit earlier than usual. I just needed to sit in a quiet house for five minutes to myself. As I was tucking everyone in, my youngest daughter looks at me and gave me a kiss. “That was the best day ever, mommy. I’m so happy you’re home,” she whispered. I sat and thought about the hours before. I wasn’t on my “A” game. I probably wasn’t the nicest I could have been. And I know that my patience was running thin for most of the day. But did she focus on that as much as I did? Not for a second.
Esther Anderson from Story of This Life created a video that will make you second-guess those days when you think nothing went right and you lay awake at night reliving all of your horrible moments wishing you could have a do-over. She takes a look at our days through the eyes of our children. How our “normal” days can be magical in the eyes of our children. It’s a great reminder for us to not be so hard on ourselves.
Watch the video below. And grab the tissues while you’re at it.