What If I Don’t Get To

So I’m a crafty mom. One that loves the invention of Pinterest, but if I’m honest, I’d be just as over the top without it. I doodle lunch notes for my school kids. Everyday. Everyday, I’ve only missed one. I Elf on the Shelf with the best of them and I draw pictures with pancakes, make handmade Halloween costumes, and thoroughly enjoy school free days.

We’ve all seen those random stories circling the web of the dad that doodles amazing lunch bags, moms that make extravagant lunches, the mom whose Elf legitimately walks around the house. And the comments that follow are how shallow they are. Who has the time?! Surely they don’t work a real job. Here’s the thing, I do all those things for my own enjoyment (no lie) but also because I want to drown my children in the best memories! I’m terrified that I won’t get to see them to fruition in their lives. My husband hates when I say this, and maybe I’m morbid, but in the back of my mind the thought is there; what if I don’t get to?
What if I don’t get to see my daughters through their teens years? What if my son has a different example of what a wife and mother looks like? What if I miss their weddings, their children? What if I don’t get to see them grow up …

So I take my gifts, my talents, and I document my love, life lessons, adoration for my children and I sprinkle it all around them. None of us are promised tomorrow I’m well aware, and if I don’t get to live this life beside them, I need them to find pieces of me when they need it most. I need them to know Mom took every chance possible to shower them, show them how important and loved they are. I need them to know I did everything I could to set them up for success. 

Take a breath, before you get all high and mighty on me; no, I don’t think this is the only way a child can know love—there are thousands of ways to show your child they’re cared for. But this is mine. So be a bitter Betty all you want, but I’ll continue to be extra because it’s 100% about me and my children and 0% to do with you. So take time, love your children. Shower them in the gifts you have to offer and don’t get caught up comparing your gifts to someone else’s. In the same breath, don’t slam their gifts just because they aren’t yours. 

Now excuse me, I’m off to plan a holiday menu that will make my kids poop the rainbow for a week …