It\u2019s so much easier to be a good mother when your kids are sleeping.<\/p>\n
I walked into my sons\u2019 room, to their bunk-beds piled high with blankets and Thomas the Train books, Spiderman and Little Critter stories, stuffies and flashlights, my three year old\u2019s chubby cheeks still smelling somehow of infancy. I kissed his soft skin, pulled his blanket up to his chin, his arms splayed like he was confident in our love.<\/p>\n
Aiden, my almost five-year-old with a splash of freckles on his nose, was deep in thoughtful dreams, his hands clutching his green bunny.<\/p>\n
And I felt blessed standing there listening to them breathe, like angels brushing heaven with their wings.<\/p>\n
And for a moment, I forgot about the day.<\/p>\n
I forgot about the way I tried to rush them outside whenever I could, to get them to play away from me so I could get some seemingly very important work done. The way they asked me to watch, but I was too busy. The way I sighed when they asked me questions, the way I counted down the minutes until nap-time and then until their Dad got home from work, and then until bedtime. I spent the whole day waiting them away \u2013 only to appreciate them in their sleep.<\/p>\n
And even though I felt grateful for them there in the dark, they couldn\u2019t see the smile on my face. They couldn\u2019t hear my prayers. I couldn\u2019t pick them up and twirl them around and dance to long songs with them.<\/p>\n
And then morning comes.<\/i><\/p>\n
Every morning starts too early \u2013 don\u2019t you feel this way, mothers?<\/i> It always starts on our children\u2019s terms, and I wonder if this is why we spend the whole day trying to get time back to ourselves. Trying to reclaim those lost minutes in bed, trying to reclaim control over a life consisting of sweats and unwashed hair and piles of laundry.<\/p>\n
But what if we awoke as grateful as when we went to sleep?<\/i><\/p>\n
What if we stopped waiting away our children\u2019s existence \u2013 stopped pushing them out the door, or into bed, or making them generally feel like they\u2019re in the way \u2013 and started taking three seconds to change?<\/p>\n
My friend Rachel Stafford of Hands Free Mama wrote on her blog about the #sixsecondchallenge to change someone\u2019s world. It just takes six seconds to hold a person\u2019s face and tell them they\u2019re beautiful, for example.<\/p>\n
But I believe we can change our mothering in half as long. I believe we can become grateful moms in just THREE seconds.<\/p>\n
Do you want to feel like a better mother during the day? Do you want to start feeling thankful for your kids while they\u2019re awake, and to stop feeling like they owe you something? Do the #ILoveYouChallenge.<\/p>\n
Take three<\/i> seconds just to breathe in, and then out, before responding \u2013 before sighing in exasperation or responding with an edge to your voice, whisper \u201cI love you.\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019re not just saying \u201cI love you\u201d to your child (even though the point isn\u2019t for him\/her to hear you, but for you to remind yourself that you love your children). You\u2019re also saying it to yourself. You LOVE yourself enough to be a better, more grateful mother. Because deep down you don\u2019t resent your kids for waking you early \u2013 you resent yourself for going to bed too late. You don\u2019t wish for more time away from them; you just wish for more time in general. And finally, you\u2019re saying \u201cI love you\u201d to God \u2013 thanking Him for the gift of your child.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s this three-fold \u201cI love you\u201d which will transform your day from grudge to gratitude.<\/p>\n
Soon we\u2019ll have it. We\u2019ll have more time than we know what to do with, and we\u2019ll wish for all those moments back. We\u2019ll wish for a do-over. So let\u2019s stop the regret now by taking a few seconds each day to whisper, \u201cI Love You.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
It will change your life \u2013 and your child\u2019s. Forever.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Emily T. Wierenga is an award-winning journalist, blogger, commissioned artist and columnist, as well as the author of five books including the memoirAtlas Girl: Finding Home in the Last Place I Thought to Look<\/a> (Baker Books). She lives in Alberta, Canada with her husband and two sons. For more info, please visit emilywierenga.com<\/a>. Find her on Twitter<\/a> or Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fashionable, colorful, and inspiring \u2014 this gold, geometrically designed necklace<\/a> adds a modish touch to outfits of every style!<\/p>\n Fashionable, colorful, and inspiring \u2014 this gold, geometrically designed necklace<\/a> adds a modish touch to outfits of every style!<\/p>\n
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