Hello Momma! How are you doing? Are you busy? I know I am! ALL THE TIME!! Is your homeschool room loud and in complete chaos? Do you have pressing deadlines to meet, but your kiddos can’t seem to understand what, “Not Right Now” means? Do you find yourself making a mental list each morning of the things you want/need to get done, only to be interrupted numerous times by those sweet littles’ voices, constantly pining for you attention and affection?? Guess what, Momma?! Stop what you’re doing…turn your attention to that sweet little face and just be present…in that moment!
A few weeks ago, my 13-year-old son came to me shortly after waking up to ask if he could make cookies before school, so he could bring them for his Catechism teacher later that afternoon. I was in the middle of a school project of my own and we had a full day of homeschooling to get done before leaving for Catechism. So, I said, “Not today, but maybe next week, okay?” He replied, “Okay…” and walked back to his room folding up his handwritten recipe and tucked it back into his jeans pocket. I felt terrible for saying, “No”, but we had “things” to get done…
Fast forward to the other day, my son got up before his siblings and came quietly into the dining room where I do my early morning work and schooling. Still in his pajamas, he held that same special piece of lined notebook paper folded in his hand and asked, “Mom, if I get dressed and make my bed right now…can I please make the cookies for my teacher…before everyone else gets up?” Again, I had a deadline for my schooling, and the day’s schedule was full of homeschool work, but…
I gave him a hug, told him I loved him very much, and said…”Yes…get dressed and make your bed. I will clean the countertops for you and get the mixer and ingredients ready for you.” This beautiful, handsome, loving, generous boy made those cookies all by himself! HE measured the ingredients. HE mixed the ingredients. HE baked them. HE packaged them up. When he was done with his task, he had measured out an equal number of cookies for all of the Catechism teachers at church! When I asked him where he got the recipe, my son replied, “I saw it in a cookbook at the library awhile back and wrote it down in my notebook. I’ve wanted to make them for awhile now. But you were always busy and I didn’t want to bother you.” Boy, did I feel like a heel! I needed to hear that!
So, Momma…stop what you are doing right now. Go get your mixer out and whatever ingredients you have at home, put your kiddos on the kitchen counter and start making some cookies. Life is short, and these moments are too sweet and too brief to let them pass by. 😊
