wake up, lady!

my sister recently introduced me to a blog that i now love.

it's called angle of my repose.

i recently read a post there about her briefly losing one of her young children at the grocery store.

an older man found the girl and was waiting with her until the mother found her.

the man was not impressed with the situation,

and as he walked away he said "wake up, lady!"

i had my own "wake up lady" moment this past week in the grocery store.

i had a long list.

the kids were being a little on the wild side,

and they weren't staying in the cart.

it was dinner time,

and i just wanted to hurry.

sam began tugging on my shirt while i was trying to pick out a roast.

he kept saying "look, mom, look!"

in an attempt to do both things at once,

i glanced over in the direction he was pointing.

i saw some cheese or something in the cooler

and replied, "cool, sam" like i was actually looking.

i was more just looking at the roast.

i heard an older man say to him,

"oh, did you build that? that's quite impressive."

that caught my attention,

and i looked again.

i saw what sam was trying to get me to see.

he had stacked tuna cans up to make a tower almost as tall as he was.

the man didn't tell me to "wake up, lady",

but i said it to myself that day,

and i haven't been able to stop saying it to myself all week.

here, i've got these amazing children who are in a stage of life where my validation & attention are laying a foundation for their self-image and understanding of their world.

with the demands of being a mother,

i have found myself lately rushing through life,

looking but not really seeing anything they are showing me.

i have so many ideas in my mind of the kind of mother i want to be,

and i have realized that it is time for me to wake up.

if i want to be a gentler mother,

a better listener,

and be better at understanding,

now is the time to do it.

if i want to provide a nurturing & comfortable home,

if i want to organize our lives,

and if i want to make life more fun & meaningful,

now is the time to do it.

if i want to start seeing more,

then i need to start really looking.

"wake up, lady!"

now is your time!

once this time passes,

you won't get a re-do.