My friend, Sandee, sent me this e-mail a week or so ago...and, in my most modest and humble opinion, I thought that 'this day in her life' was just too priceless not to share! I asked her if she'd let me post it for the rest of you...hope you enjoy it!
A day in the life moment...
Of Mice and Motherhood.
Last spring I had wonderful visions of schooling the kids through the summer. I had borrowed an AVKO speller from a friend and even copied off Math-U-See worksheets, both of which were to be done daily with diligence. It was to be school without end, amen. Of course then came, beaches and gardens and visits and yard work and all sorts of other diversions. It is summer, after all. And summer in Maine is here today and gone tomorrow. Then I knew summer was ending because my garden needed to be harvested. I was scrambling for a pressure cooker, and now the thought of really needing to “do” school was looming ahead of me. No more wingin’ it. I am going to do a schedule. No more routine. I am going to actually apply the principles I gleaned after spending twenty bucks on the Maxwell’s “Managers…” book. I’m going put my husband’s hard earned money to use and his ship is gonna run like clockwork! … I guess I’ll start next week.
It is so easy for us homeschooling moms to compare ourselves, our families and what we do, with each other and even with other women we see in the spotlight of the world. Do my children look and act as perfect as their children? Is my home as neat and homey as their home? Does my nine year old know as much as their nine year old? Is my husband as “spiritual” as her husband? And with all the hoopla in the media lately, how about this one… Am I considered as successful with my life as that woman? Who am I, anyway? I just stay home and work to make sure all my children survive to adulthood and hopefully can read and write well enough to fill out a job application or at least sign a marriage lisence. Or… Gee, I hope my girls will grow knowledgeable enough and self confident enough to be able to run a town, maybe even a country. Don’t be deceived. What we stay-at-home, homeschooling mothers do is the most important and rewarding job any woman on the face of the planet could ever aspire to do. We are ordained by God to be keepers at home. And we have a GREAT life!
Just the other day God gave me a wonderful gift. My mother, whom we have hired to keep my husband’s business books, was here working in the office. Our “office” occupies a 20 foot square area in the middle of our living room. She is as close to a fly on the wall in our home as you can get and I often wonder what she thinks of our daily life. So, there I am doing dishes, my husband is home for lunch, my mother is working on the books with two of our girls folding laundry near her, while the other children are doing various chores. All of a sudden I hear a gleeful shriek from one of the launderers, “A mouse! A mouse!”. And pandemonium ensues! For this isn’t just any old mouse. This is the thorn-in-my-side mouse. This is the destroyer of our sanitation and almost of my sanity. This one mouse has laid more bombs of poop in one kitchen drawer than utensils that actually occupy the drawer. And this is the successful evader of not one, not two, but FOUR strategically placed, carefully set mouse traps. And here he was! Right in our living space! Right before our very eyes! And, yes we were very excited. Here was our chance to finally be rid of this reeker of havoc and we were NOT going to let that chance slip away.
The rest of the children and I ran into the living room to view the culprit with our own eyes, each with an idea of how to nab him, but as the “keeper at home” it was my job to take all ideas into consideration, formulate a game plan, and give instruction for its execution. I order for Hannah to get me the broom. This won’t work, my aim isn’t that good and, even if I did manage to squish the mini rat, it’s far too messy for my living room floor. Plan B… I call for a mixing bowl. Now, as I am holding the bowl in my hands I realize that in order to cover the mouse with it I am going to have to get way closer to the thing than I am comfortable with and then I will still have to come up with an idea as to getting it out from under the bowl and into some other area for destruction. Plan C… I call for Gabe to get the Shop Vac. MUCH better. An all-in-one plan of operation: I can cover it from a distance, suck it up into a mode of transportation, and then unleash it outside to the delight of our barn cat. All the children are tactically placed around the couch, his place of hiding. The job of each is to inform the keeper and her helper of its location.
Hannah uses her broom to scoot the mouse out from under the couch toward my waiting wand. As it suddenly pops out I slam the end of the wand down upon it, making sure of no escape and waiting to allow time enough for the shop vac to suck the varmint into its belly. At this point the kids are shrieking with enthusiasm and congratulations, and as my heart feels like it is going to pound right out of my chest all I keep saying is “I love my life!”.
Gabe took the machine of confinement out to the driveway, followed by the rest of the kids. The girls found the cat. Then, at just the right moment the mouse escaped and after some toying with was eaten by Happy. With one gulp it was all over. And as I stood at our screen door, keeping our dog from bolting to join in the fun and harass the cat, I looked over at my husband (the casual observer) and could only smile and think how much I really do love my life.
I don’t know how moments like these will fit into our schedule. And I don’t really care, as long as we continue to have moments like these. Yes, we will be starting book work on Monday. It will probably begin sometime before canning and shortly after our four-year-old’s birthday party. But above all I thank God for blessing me, not with a career and worldly success, not with the applause and admiration of a country, but with an amazing and unsurpassable life of mice and motherhood.
“But godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1Timothy 6:6
BTW: I still don’t know what my mother thinks of our daily life, I’m too afraid to ask…