It's Hard to be a Momma, and That's Okay

I realized something very recently. I’m scared of my kids.

I know I have a tendency to be silly and joke around about a lot of ‘mom-ing’ topics, but I say this in all seriousness. My children terrify me.

I’m not afraid they’re going to slaughter me in my sleep or anything like that (although I’m sure I will be having that nightmare soon). And it never occurred to me that I was frightened until the other day. 

Adaleine and Judah had brought some toys upstairs to play with. We try to keep all of their toys downstairs so that area is theirs. Ideally, the rest of the house is fit for adults and we’re not tripping over Lalaloopsy dolls and Rescue Bots all the time.

 So the two kiddos were playing with their toys on the train table and I was hanging up clothes in their room. When Ada hollered in asking if it was almost time for lunch, I caught myself taking a deep breath. I felt my stomach tighten up and my heart started beating faster. Then I said the words I was scared to say, “Yes, we’re eating soon. So I need you guys to pick up those toys off the table and take them back downstairs.” 

The eruption of whining and crying that followed was expected. “Why?! I don’t want to pick up! I’m still playing with these! I’m not doing it!” I knew it was coming and a part of me gave up as I hung another little shirt on another little hanger.

Now, before you start up the choruses of “this is how you’ve allowed them to treat you” and “consistency is key” and “you can’t tolerate backtalk,” I want you to know that I know all of that. I know I’ve trained these little buggers to do exactly what they did. 

There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not berating myself as a mother. Not second-guessing every single choice I make. Did they not get to bed early enough last night? Are they eating a good enough breakfast? Cute enough clothes? On time to school? Did I not teach them to brush their teeth well enough? Should they be able to tie their own shoes? Should I have enrolled them in more than one after school program? Are we practicing their spelling words enough? Should I be walking them in to school every day? Am I scarring them for life by not getting up early every morning to put myself together? And this is all before we even walk out the door in the morning. I think this is true for a lot of moms.

Here’s my hang-up: sometimes it’s just too hard. Sometimes you know it’s coming and you know it’s only Tuesday and it’s close to bedtime and if you can just make it two more hours without anyone getting hurt, you’re in the clear. Sometimes Mr. Bug goes off to work for two days and the second they hear that door shut they start crying about missing Daddy. Sometimes they wake up, roll out of bed, and just vomit attitude all over the house. 

Sometimes ‘mom-ing’ makes you want to cry. I know I should insert a line like ‘but these beautiful blessings are so worth it and I’m grateful for every minute I have with these little gifts from above.’ That’s all true, but sometimes it doesn’t feel true. 

Training for a marathon is hard. You know there’s a goal at the end that you hope to achieve, but there will be blood, sweat, tears, vomit and times you want to give up. I don’t think being a mom is any different. 

There’s no turning point or advice offered here, I just wanted to send this out into the blogosphere, hoping it will find someone who needs it. It’s okay if some days you just want to cry because they’re still awake and you’re simply spent. I’ll say that again. It’s okay. Get some rest if you can and just start again tomorrow. You’ll make it. 

This Tooth Fairy is Nuts

If you read our Christmas letter or follow me on Instagram, you know that Miss Eden lost her first tooth back in November. Since I am apparently certifiably insane, I decided to make her a tooth fairy door similar to those I had seen on Pinterest here and here. 

Note: this was actually a really silly thing to do at this time. In the month leading up to Thanksgiving I was one of two moms planning the school’s fall party, we had Halloween costumes to prepare, I was trying to pull off Sissy’s Fancy Nancy birthday party, I was making gifts for my sister’s new baby, and then added in traveling all over God’s creation just to put me over the edge. Nuts, I tell you!

Anywho, I knew that Eden would only lose her first tooth once, so I convinced myself that I could handle a little more pressure to make sure that it was uber special for her. I picked up what I needed for the door and box at Hobby Lobby (gotta love those 40% off coupons!) and worked on it in the wee hours after the kiddos had gone to bed. Luckily Eden is one of those kids who will deal with a tooth hanging on by a thread for a loooong time so I had a little extra time to work on it.

The tooth fairy receipt was so much fun, and it will be a great way for us to remember how she lost each tooth. I’m looking forward to recording the details along the way. : ) And Christine over at CMV Studio was so great! I first fell in love with this listing on her Etsy site, but knew that I’d like to use the same thing for each kiddo through the years. After messaging her and asking if she’d consider offering a gender-neutral receipt, she listed this one and I snapped it up!

The letter was inspired by Alicia over at She’s Making Cards and I threw a few of our own details in there as well. (I will include the full text at the end of the post, just in case you can't read it here.) I simply included the letter in the ‘special delivery’ box from Madame Tooth Fairy when Eden found the door in her room. And I sprinkled glitter on it, because my madness knows no bounds.

You may notice that Eden received $6 for this first tooth and let me reassure you that we are not, in fact, made of money. The receipt states that the standard reward for a lost tooth is $1, but that since it was her first she received a $5 ‘first tooth bonus.’ For a little added magic to the tooth fairy money, I sprayed the bills with glitter spray. It is magic, after all.

I hope you enjoyed my little trip to the crazy side! I want to say one thing in all seriousness: don’t do this if you don’t want to. Your kiddo will be super happy with whatever brand of ‘magic’ you subscribe to. Whether it’s a tooth fairy door or a tooth fairy pillow or simply a quarter slipped underneath their pillow. I was stressed out to the max while I was in the process of making this, and in hindsight I don’t think I’d do it again. The best gift you can give your little munster is hugs and snuggles and a momma who’s not nuts. : )

Here is the letter Eden received with her door if you'd like to do something similar. Let me know if you use it! : ) 

My dearest Eden,

I was so thrilled to learn that you lost your first tooth! I know your mommy and daddy have been really excited too!

As soon as your mommy told me you had a loose tooth I had my Helper Fairies set to work making you a special door to hang in your room. Ask your daddy to hang it up for you so that I can use it to visit every time you lose a tooth.

You may open the door whenever you wish, but the magic only works at night when you’re sleeping. That is when I use that door to come to your room and deliver you a special gift for every tooth you lose.

I am so excited to start visiting you! I’ve heard from so many of my fairy workers and from your mommy and daddy that you are a kind and hard-working little girl, and I can’t wait to share with you some of the magic of becoming a young lady.

I will know the exact moment when you lose that tooth, Miss Eden, and will use this door to pay you a visit. In the meantime, be a big girl and be sure to obey your mommy and daddy.

Love,

Madame Tooth Fairy

P.S. Your mommy told me that you would like to keep your teeth, and that is no problem at all! Please leave me a note each time I visit to remind me, and I will let you collect them all in a special box your mommy is preparing for you.

Cyber Sanchez Christmas Card Extravaganza!

 

 Hello friends and family! We are ditching the traditional Christmas card this year in favor of a straight-to-your-screen, don’t-have-to-walk-to-the-mailbox cyberspace version. I’m hoping to get back to the traditional paper letters in the next year or two, but for now I’d love to bring everyone up to speed on life in the Sanchez household this way. In the interests of ‘keeping it real,’ I may overshare. My apologies. : )

Judah Bear will turn three in March and is such a fun little man! He is still kind of small for his age but I am convinced this kid is made of solid cement. He is so strong and so tough and his love for his sisters is beyond adorable. Judah is also a total cheeseball! He has this great big smile (just like Adaleine!) that he flashes to just about anyone he sees. He started swim lessons a couple of months ago and told his teacher in his very first class that he wanted to do it all by himself. I have no idea where he gets this stubbornness ; ) 

*Reality Check* This freaking kid will not sleep in his own bed through the night. I will accept a good portion of the blame because when he was a baby it was so much easier just to let him in bed with me than trying to calm and quiet him. But seriously, dude. Sleep in your own bed!

Adaleine Grace just turned five in November and requested we celebrate with a Fancy Nancy birthday party. She is in her second year of preschool and loves getting to go to school three days a week. She is mommy’s little helper at home; she loves folding laundry and helping with lunch. She also loves riding her bike and playing outside with her brother and sister. Ada started Awana (kid’s church group) this year and is getting lots of patches to put on her vest for memorizing Bible verses. Adaleine and Eden both started swim lessons in March of this year and are both doing swimmingly! I’m sorry. I had to.

*Reality Check* I would argue that Sissy is one of the sweetest little kids that has ever walked the earth. She is beautiful and a true blessing. I have two small suggestions to this little ray of sunshine: L-I-S-T-E-N to what I am saying to you or I’m going to lose my ever-loving mind, and please for the love of all that is good in this world try to put your shoes on the right feet!

Miss Eden turned six in June and is in first grade (gulp!). We had a rough patch last year when she didn’t like school for a bit, but once she got the hang of reading all of that disappeared. She is now one of the top readers in her grade and even enjoys math! (She must not be my daughter.) Eden loves learning new things and is really interested in animals right now. This is her first year of Awana too and she is having so much fun with the games and memorization, along with making new friends in her group. She lost her first loose tooth and is turning into a young lady before our very eyes. 

*Reality Check* At the ripe age of 6 1/2, Miss Eden truly has the whole shoes-on-the-right-feet thing down pat. Here’s my big struggle with Eden: breakfast. The kid doesn’t like cereal. Doesn’t like cereal bars. Doesn’t like anything that’s fast or that she could make herself. And she’s a morning person. She is so not my daughter. 

 

As for me (Brittany), I am still keeping busy as a stay-at-home momma. Between running around for the kiddos, packing school lunches, and helping with our Mom’s Small Group at church I’m pretty spent! We also moved yet again this year when our landlords decided to list the house we were renting for sale. This was our third or fourth big move in just over two years—depending on how you count them—and to say it was a hard move for me is a gross understatement. But God continues to provide and we are in a really great house in a nice neighborhood that is so close to the girls’ school. We have been very blessed!

*Reality Check* There are days when I feel like I’ve got this whole ‘mom-ing’ thing totally down, but for the most part it’s mostly me spending my days navigating laundry, feeding the kids again and wondering how all the fruit snacks wind up in the sofa cushions. Confession: I hate putting away laundry. With a passion. Consequently, there are currently three baskets of folded laundry in my bedroom waiting to be put away. Sigh.

 

Landon continues on as a locomotive engineer for BNSF Railroad. His job takes him away from home a lot and his schedule is wildly unpredictable, but that just makes the times that we’re all home together even more special. He participated in the Spartan Run in October with a close friend and really enjoyed it. The kids and I all had fun watching him climb across monkey bars, crawl under barbed wire through mud pits, and throw a javelin. 

*Reality Check* Landon broke one of my brooms to make his practice javelin, which I’m totally over. Whatever. Also, he is now the reluctant proud owner of a ‘honey do’ list, which I’m confident will be nothing but helpful in our ongoing quest for world domination organization and peace throughout our home.

Thanks for sticking with me through our family report! We hope you are all having a safe and happy Christmas season and pray for a blessed new year!

With love,

Landon, Brittany, Eden, Adaleine & Judah