A few days ago I planned to tackle many things on my to-do list. Sewing for my 3 friends who just had babies, cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming, grocery shop, make dinner, all before Jay came home. I was determined to get them all done but when my girls came home from school, of course I had to prepare them snacks and then help with their homework, make sure they practice piano, then drive them to piano lessons and pick them back up. I always forget all these things that comes with motherhood! Still thinking I could tackle a lot of these on my to-do list, I was about to get to work when my kids begged me to play with them. My son wanted me to play trains with him, while the girls wanted me to play in the sand box and play Shopkins. I thought, okay, I’ll play with them for 20 mins. and then tackle my to-do list. 

We ended up playing for 2 hours and I got NOTHING done on my to-do list. NOTHING. The kids just were having so much fun and didn’t want me to stop playing with them. After about 30 mins. of playing, I was cringing inside at the boredom and frustration because I had to get so much done but here I was, doing none of those things but instead playing Shopkins with my kids. And am I the only one that gets so bored after about 30 mins, of playing with my kids? It depends on the activity I guess, but if it’s like Shopkins or playing house or playing cards, I am done after 30 mins. Do you feel that way sometimes?

So I was thinking to myself, ‘Ugh, I need to get so much done today but I can’t get any of them done because I am a mother. I can’t do anything I want to do which I’ve come to accept, but I can’t even do anything I NEED to do!” Then I realized I wouldn’t regret that I didn’t go grocery shopping on my death bed, but would regret not playing with my kids more so I changed my attitude and was grateful for my kids who loved me so much that they wanted to play with me all the time. 

After we were done playing and while daddy was playing with them, I started cooking dinner and my little girl handed me these two notes she wrote for me.

“Mom, you are fun and nice.”

“Mom, you are really really really really fun.”

My heart just melted. And I realized I did tackle everything that is important. I was playing with my wonderful kids. I was spending time with them and letting them know that they’re the most important on my to-do list. I was being a mother.

At the end of the day when my house is messy, I didn’t get everything done on my to-do list, and I feel like I didn’t get anything done, I need to remember that if my kids were fed, loved and played with, I did accomplish everything. 

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