Order out of chaos

This past week I had a few days where I wasn't feeling so well, so my mom felt sorry for me and came over to help. She even helped with my spring cleaning and detoxed the fridge. I have mentioned this before, but my mom is honestly amazing when it comes to cleaning. My sister and I talk about this often because when she comes over to watch our children she will frequently have the house all spic and span by the time we get home. It is usually more sparkly clean than I seem to be able to make it. (And this has rubbed off on my dad as well. When he watches our kids, he will also do the dishes or straighten up. Impressive!) Anyway my sister and I have discussed whether my mom can make the house so clean because she doesn't have other things to think about while at our houses -like what to get at the store or what her next post will be on her blog- or if this is truly one of her talents. I believe it is the latter. When I watch her clean, I am in awe at what she accomplishes. She really should teach classes. Even as a child, I don't remember our house being dirty or even cluttered which is quite a feat with 5 kids in 10 years.

A few months ago I was talking with a dear friend who I have known since I was 6 years old, so she grew up around my family. She has wonderful, warm memories of being in my home when she was child. She remembered things that I couldn't even recall. Many of these things were centered around something my mom had done to recognize each of us kids. Things like us all being members of the "Smarty Pants Club" when we got good report cards and having a special dinner to celebrate this. Or whenever we had been away for awhile, there would always be a sign on the garage welcoming us home. Or getting the "Sunshine Room Award" to hang on our doorknob when our room was the cleaniest, which I must admit I got alot! I could go on and on about all the things my mom did for us to make us feel special, but the point I want to make is that as I have become an adult I have realized that not everyone had a mom who did these things for them. Now my mom wasn't perfect, and I know there are many ways to nurture a child and every mom does it differently. But I am so grateful that my mom chose to nurture us in ways that were true to her. I haven't truly come to appreciate the healthy childhood my mom- and dad created for me until recently. Being a mom now, I have come to the conclusion that one of the jobs that a mom has is to create order out of chaos for their children. And unfortunately there is a lot of chaos out in the world. I am constantly trying to do this for my children and I still rely on my mom to do this for me. My mom can especially do this with a messy house and she can do it with a messy heart. And that is a great blessing for me. My only hope is that I can do the same for my children. Because someone did it for me, I have the ability to do it for someone else. So thank you mom. I love you.

This is one of my favorite pictures of me and my mom. It is at my college graduation. If you look closely you can see my dad in between our faces. It is like my dad is saying, "Look at me! I'm pretty too!"