I’m the mom. My job is to keep everyone happy. Some people over-complicate this. I use to. Then one day, it hit me. I got it. Here is how I keep my family happy.
I DO IT ALL!
I’m not kidding.
From the time my feet hit the floor until my head hits the pillow, I’m a powerhouse of making my family happy.
I do their laundry–right after I tour their room and find and gather all the dirty laundry tossed and stuffed in crevices and beneath the beds. Once it’s cleaned and pressed, I return it to their drawers. They think it automatically happens!
I cook for them. It’s like a short-order kitchen. I plan a meal, but someone doesn’t feel like that, so I change the course of the plan and make it work. It’s hard to please so many. Even when we BBQ, there’s a different order for meat. Some like it rare, others well done. One refuses to eat it if it has ANY “black stuff” on it.
I clean. Everyday. I have to do this because they don’t pick up after themselves. I ask them to…even beg, but in the end, I’m picking it up. They form a parade of hands on the walls. There are kiss marks on the mirrors. A trail of snack wrappers leads me to their hide-outs.
I review homework and help them study. Ever sat for three hours spelling every single word your daughter tells you for her Science Fair Report? It’s brutal…but it makes her proud and happy.
I support their dreams. From Rock Star to Rocket Man, I’m the Mom that listens and helps develop a career path. We have traveled to their concerts, sat through school productions of The Wizard of Oz.
When I’m not cooking, washing, or cleaning up after them, I enjoy the moments of little things that make them happy. A Crayola picture I drew was placed on the pillow for my five-year-old. A love text was sent to my husband. A phone call to my son. A simple sign-language gesture of “I love you.”
They take the other stuff for granted. “Mom will do it.” In the end, it’s the little gestures of love that keep my family happy. Remembering their best friend’s name this week. Asking what library book they checked out at school. Taking the time to listen to them.
I want them to be happy.
But sometimes, like last night, I want it to be about me, and so I ask, “When is my next day off?”
My husband looks at me and says, “What do you mean?”
It’s then I realize what an awesome job I’m doing at keeping my family happy. I don’t even make it look like work!
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I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Farm Rich blogging program for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here