Kelly

I used to believe that I was on top of my Super Mom game :: house was tidy, the kids brought lunches every day to school, and dinner was made every evening. I made it to just about every school function and there was a lot of structure at home :: homework immediately after school, no video games on school nights, eating at the supper table as a family, getting ready for bed by 8:30 and in bed by 9. She talked about her concerns for the amount of video game time the boys were playing {thanks Fortnite} and how she didn’t like how it affected them. While I can’t imagine returning back to Super Mom status any time soon, it feels good to get some things back into order.

My body definitely needed a break from baby-making and baby-feeding, so I thought I was done. My parents could easily take the kids for a weekend while we went on a adults-only vacation {3 kids might be a bit more difficult for them}. Even if we had another baby {or a dozen babies}, I would still feel that urge to have another one when the chapter was closing. When you have newborns your wants and needs {and your partner’s wants and needs} fade way, way, WAYYY down the list, but as they get a bit more independent, they get bumped up a bit more and more.

It’s the time of year we think of deep cleaning, new beginnings, and probably a bit of redecorating. Don’t you dare even say you’re Texan if you haven’t laid claim on a hill of gorgeous flowers that may or may not be infested with fire ants. Turns out that working up a silent sweat of anxiety and frustration causes flat frizzy hair, amongst other things {insert miserable children}. Keeping it cool, calm, collected and letting it be, seems like a solid piece of advice. Your ultimate goal here is to capture their {the family} most prized eyes and contagious smiles onto film, place it on canvas and then display it on the wall for at least a year.

Like so many others, I spent Monday glued to the news, watching the extensive coverage of the devastating fire of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. And while I can’t claim to have stepped up to Notre Dame and had an inspirational, life changing moment, I can tell you that when I saw her set against a perfect evening sunset sky, pink and purple clouds hovering behind the belfry towers, that I felt this immense moment of peace and contentment. We can share in that grief and darkness his mother and disciples must have felt upon Jesus’ death. Joan of Arc Monday may have felt like Good Friday, but the dawn of Easter Sunday is approaching, and it too will glow with the promise of redemption and hope.