Mother’s Helper

I am not weak but my steps may falter.

I am not dumb but I may be ignorant.

I am not alone but I may feel lonely.

I may not be enough today, but I AM ENOUGH.

How did you speak to yourself today? I pray it was with kindness and an abundance of grace. If not, I pray that tomorrow’s conversations offer more goodwill. 

Today is a good day. In fact, it is a great day. It is the kind of day that sends a hyperactive brain like mine into cartwheels of dizzying delight. I took a step today for myself that I kept saying I did not need. 

I’ve got it. No, it’s okay.  

Sound familiar? What about this?

Yeah, it’s been crazy. I am exhausted.

Today, I confronted the assumption that being capable means being able to do it all. I hired a mother’s helper for the summer.

I homeschool year round and my darling children are always underfoot. They are intelligent, joyful, and NORMAL children who sometimes drive me bonkers. I am supported by a loving, if often baffled, husband and a bevy of friends who are truly a tribe. I know I am lucky. Today, I feel even luckier.

What is a mother’s helper?

A second set of hands and eyes would be my first answer. Here is the first link I found when I googled:

Http://www.verywellfamily.com/what-is-a-mothers-helper-617066

For me? It is the freedom to hide at my desk without guilt and without having to leave my home and camp out at the library. I love the library but, truthfully, I love my pajamas more. It is the privilege to get done what needs to be done while my youngest has a ball.

Accepting help is not admitting to failure but honoring where you are in whatever journey you are taking today. It is an arm slung around you when you cannot take another step. It is an opportunity to learn so that you might know more and understand better. It is someone pulling you from the company of your own circling thoughts or sitting beside you honoring those feelings. It is the affirmation the you ARE enough and have NOTHING to prove by doing it all.

Help is a not a commitment of a lifetime but the blessing of the day. It blesses others by allowing them to help; to give of themselves. Our people WANT to help us but don’t always know how. What is the first question you are asked in times of pain or difficulty? How can I help? Let me know if there is something we can do, okay?. 

Don’t dismiss that offer by assuming that you must always be able to juggle every ball. Don’t model isolation to your children (google John Donne’s “No Man is an Island. It is a fave.). Model community. My girl is plenty happy to have the attention of a big kid. The girl upstairs playing with mine sounds plenty happy. My son is plenty happy not to be a “baby” who needs to be watched but to be considered a trusted young man. 

I have a whole household of happy and I am so grateful.