What Have You Been Up To Lately?

"What have you been up to lately?"

There it is, the almost dreaded question. Unless you are or have ever been a mama, you won't understand how it feels to answer such a pointed inquiry. 

While visiting with a dear friend on the phone, I listened as she outlined her new job, her upcoming law  school transition, her training for a marathon, and her juggling it all while seeking to prioritize her marriage. She wants to eventually use law to help her work for organizations that stop trafficking. For a brief moment, I was a little jealous. It sounded so cool, so new, so gratifying. 

If you asked me what I did today I would tell you I folded a few loads of laundry. I went to the OB and listened to him tell me I was measuring a few weeks ahead of my due date, I needed to watch my weight, and to take multiple Prilosec for the indigestion keeping me awake in the early morning hours. I fed a few bottles, washed a million dirty dishes, lamented my flattened hair peeking from beneath my ball-cap, changed cloth diapers and started more laundry, fixed dinner, and finished some important paperwork due today. 

I can't remember the last time I was able to run without it causing contractions or leading to my laying on the ground groaning as the muscles in my back and stomach scream in pain. I haven't "had" to watch my weight in years, and I didn't like hearing a doctor tell me I was gaining faster than his allotted amount. 19 pounds of gain in 26 weeks of pregnancy isn't my favorite thing either....it's harder to keep at bay with a second child in 2 years. 

Sometimes the job of mothering small children is hard. You pray through discipline, silence isn't usually good, diapers make you gag, and there are many days where your plans are thrown to the wind because of a long, sleepless night or teething. 

But as I type this my little boy is talking to me after having eaten half a can of green beans. He's got a finger in his mouth and is sending me a toothless smile. His socked feet are kicking his tray as he lets me know he is ready to get down and play. Yes, his diapers smell, and I gag as I scrape them in the commode. But there are few things I love more than when he is bathed and I get to breathe his lotioned skin as I feed him his last bottle of the day. His little hands gently play with my neck before he rubs his eyes. When he's fussing or tired he reaches for me, only resting on Mama's chest will suffice. 

The laundry never ends, there are always dirty dishes to wash, my husband always needs to eat, and until someone comes up with a miracle device to clean every room as we leave it, there will always be dusting to do and toilets to clean. 

That's what I've been up to lately. 

But in these tasks I magnify and praise. 

My friend with the "cool" life told me as we hung up the phone that she often wished she had my job. And again I am reminded how truly blessed I am. 

Now if you will excuse me, my child is trying to pull forks from the dishwasher. I better go rescue him.