Don't Get Comfortable

A cold front has gone through my house--
What happened after bedtime when we tried to have David and Lizzy
share a bedroom after Joy was born

I live in Michigan.  Here in Michigan we have something called the four seasons.  That means that we experience the full spectrum of winter, spring, summer, and fall.  We have hot summer days and snowy winters.  We have crisp fall days that just beg for apple cider and donuts, and beautiful spring days that scream "Picnic!"

And then there is the rest of the year...when all the seasons decide to blend together...all in one day.  I call those days whiplash days because the thermostat gets whiplash from going up and down too fast.  You know, those days where you start the morning in jeans and a sweater and end the day sunning on the beach. We seem to have a lot of those days when the seasons are starting to change.

This is what happens when mom isn't paying attention.  Lizzy covered in my lipstick.
Do you think it's her color???

Being a life long Michigander, I have become used to the wide shifts in temperature and handle it with grace.  My hubby loves to tell others just how acclimated I am to the changing weather:  "She is comfortable in a wide range of temperatures...between 65-75 degrees."

Wait, what?!  That's right.  I am a weather wimp.  I hate the super hot and I dislike the super cold.  But I especially despise the whiplash days.  This year we sort of skipped spring and went straight from winter to summer leaving my poor frozen blood little time to thin out and acclimate.  We had a lot of those cold mornings that turned into hot afternoons.  I may have even complained a few times about it.

But I've learned a few things about Michigan weather.  Just when you are starting to get used to it, the weather will change.  Just as you are starting to get used to those 95+ degree days, a cold front comes in and it's back in the 70s-80s.  Just as you are getting used to those 20 degree days, spring comes and it's 60 out.  The message one can take away from living in a land of the four seasons is:

Don't Get Comfortable

I have also seen this in my own life as I've grown in being a mother.  I absolutely hate it when I have been in the kitchen for an hour doing stuff, and when I finally finish and sit down on the couch, someone comes up to me and asks for a snack or a drink of water or something that requires me to get back up.  Hello?!??!?!  I am COMFORTABLE!  I do NOT want to get up and help you.

Or when I am in the middle of eating my breakfast and someone needs help finding the right clothes to wear for the day (generally Joy).  I am eating my breakfast and it will get cold if I get up right now.  I don't want to help you find the perfect dress, I want to sit here and eat my breakfast.

Or after a long day as I am sitting down with a good book and David asks to go on  a walk.  Do I look like I want to go on a walk?  I am sitting here reading a book after being on my feet since six this morning.

Look mom!  I painted myself instead of my rock! - Joy

Or when I am in the middle of making dinner and someone comes to show me the mess they made.  Can't they see that I am cooking here?  I am focused, I am multi-tasking trying to keep dinner from burning.  No, I can't drop everything to come and clean up your mess or dinner will be ruined.

Experience has taught me that the golden rule of Motherhood is:

Don't Get Comfortable

You will always be needed right now, you will always have to get up just as you sit down, you will always have another load a laundry to wash, another toy to pick up, a mess to clean up, a face to scrub, a dish to wash.

While Motherhood means your life is always changing and comfort is pretty much a thing of the past, the rewards are sweet.  A kiss.  A hug.  A smile.  A hand in yours.  A child in your lap.  A picture drawn just for you.  An I love you signed across a crowded room.