All we wanted to do was to get the three kids in the car and arrive at the appointed time. The bottle was filled, and extra formula and diapers were checked. Snacks? Are there enough snacks for the fifteen-minute round trip? Potty, did everyone go potty? “I don’t have to mommy.” Great, climb into your car seat. Click, click.

Did someone poop? Come on guys, really? Unclick.

Oh, now you have to go potty? Unclick.

Ok, let’s try this again. Click, click, click.

Whimpering emanates from the back seat. What’s wrong? Where’s your bunny? Do you have your bunny? Whimpering continues now with increased volume.

Unclick.

Never having left the driveway she heads back into the house on a quest to find bunny. Where’s the darn bunny? It is imperative we locate the one and only, more precious than gold elusive bunny.

Raelynn loves her bunny more than life itself.

The hunt is on. Where did we last see it? Raelynn likes to put her bunny in obscure locations and walk away. Crying can now be heard as the search for the MIA bunny continues.

We’re trying to find the bunny; hang on!

She was in the kitchen. We checked every drawer, cupboard, bathroom, spare bedroom, outside, and laundry room. Where could she have left it?

Evee, the three-year-old, departs her unbuckled car seat to join the bunny search and rescue mission. She is immediately successful.

Who pooped, asked mommy, as she clicked Evee back into her seat?

Unclick the baby.

Re-click the baby complete with a fresh diaper.

Exhausted, Mommy climbs back into the driver’s seat. Does anyone need anything else? We’re leaving.

Blarp! The baby spit up all over his clothes. Unclick.

Clean clothes and pacifier firmly attached. Click. No new aromas indicated.

Mommy clicks her seat for the fifth time. Starting the engine, they pull away.

Just another day in the life of a mommy.

Gramma is spent and plops on the couch as they roll down the drive.

We often don’t give moms the credit they deserve. In truth they are warriors on the front line, raising the next generation while instilling manners, practicing patience, feeding fickle appetites, and doing it with minuscule sleep. Think I am overexaggerating? Try it for a week, and then we’ll chat.

We owe them a debt of gratitude. Yet they often receive impatient, snarled glances if their toddler is slightly noisy or active. How many times did I hear, “Them all yours?”  Or the ever-popular, “You know what causes that, right?” I wouldn’t dream of saying something so rude to a busy mom raising future taxpayers who will decide the fate of my later years.

Moming is a serious business. It is not for the faint of heart or germaphobe. If you haven’t been peed on this week, had spit-up rolling down your back in public, or been stuck someplace without a diaper during an epic poop explosion, then you will. It comes with the territory. Moms just deal with things as they come. It’s what they do.

If medals were handed out to moms, they would have a chest full.

For heroism in the line of putting baby to sleep while simultaneously making cookies and packing lunches.

I love to encourage moms who are doing their very best despite having a child hanging on one leg, one in her arms, and another strapped to her chest while doing the weekly shopping.

Do you ever think to say something positive and uplifting to a busy mom?

They need it, and it will go a long way. Do you ever stop and say a brief prayer for an exhausted mom who is trying to keep her brood safe as they cross the parking lot?

Over the last few years, I’ve made it a point to intentionally pray for abundant grace for moms (and dads) juggling difficult situations. We never know how that helped at that moment.

Smile, encourage, and pray. These efforts go a long way.

I was that mom herding the strays and trying to catch the runners. I know the exhaustion, frustration, joy, and tears accompanying such an immense yet humbling mission of this magnitude. We have them for what feels like an eternity, and then it is gone in a blink, and they don’t need us so much anymore.  

The efforts that parents make are inestimable. The rewards are few in those really demanding years and the following self discovery years. However, the payoff is incalculable when parents do what is necessary to raise faithful, kind, compassionate, courteous, hard-working and courageous people.

We all win.

Moms are irreplaceable. They are fragile yet can scale mountains in a single bound to save a kid running into traffic.

Thank you for all the unseen sleepless nights, diaper changes, and time-out exchanges that teach valuable lessons. Your efforts are to be applauded and congratulated. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for doing your best in the most trying of times. We appreciate every effort you make to create future leaders who know what it takes to get the job done and whom to thank for all the necessary lessons that kept them on the right track.

This is dedicated to all our daughters, (and sons) who parent our grandkids with joy, a deep faith, patience and generosity. And to all the courageous young moms whom I call friend, who are deep in the trenches daily, passing on important life lessons wrapped in faith and doing it with grace and great love.

Copyright Babes Photography