“What did you do this weekend?” It was a simple question from my co-worker, but it left me internally scrambling to think of something, anything noteworthy to share. Our weekend activities of grocery shopping, cleaning and playing around the house didn’t make the best fodder for Monday morning conversation. By my standards, it was a good weekend, but I wished its highlights were more thrilling than my daughter taking a luxuriously long nap.
Let’s be honest, sometimes motherhood can leave life feeling a bit…boring (even before the idea of quarantine!). I love being a mom, but often the key to my survival is routine. As a result, the days can feel vaguely similar as I wash the same dishes, give my kids the same reminders, put away the same toys, fold the same clothes. The repetition breeds monotony. But yet somehow the days whiz by in a blur of work commitments, mini kid crises and an ever growing to do list. My days and weeks are full, yet the details are ordinary.
On these ho hum days of motherhood, envy can rear its ugly head. Others’ stories of late night outings, weeknight adventures and family getaways can make me long for the days when life was more exciting. And yet excitement is not always something to be desired.
I vividly remember a time when I longed for boring, uneventful days. It was a period when the stressors of life seemed to descend all at once. My husband and I both faced work challenges, the kids were struggling at daycare and sickness became the family’s constant companion. I remember waking every day feeling exhausted and yearning for the ordinary.
Every mom has endured a period like this, and every mom understands the indescribable weariness of these days. During these times of stress, it’s the ordinary that stabilizes us. The mundane offers comfort in the familiar and reminds us that the whirlwind of life will eventually settle.
While the exciting moments make our Instagram and Facebook feeds, the joys of parenthood are often found in the ordinary moments. It’s the little, boring details that we hold closest to our hearts – the early morning cuddles, the playtime silliness, the bedtime rituals. To others, these details may seem trivial, but to us they are everything because they capture the essence of why we love our kids so dang much.
I’m learning to embrace the mundane of the everyday. One day when I look back on this season of motherhood, I have a feeling that these boring days will feel very significant. The subtle details and low-key moments of today are not to be rushed through or thrown to the side in search of the next big milestone. Rather, this chapter of my motherhood story is meant to be cherished. And so, I’m happy to embrace a life that is blessedly boring.
