Liberty mentioned, via passing conversation today, that she’ll be seventeen in four years.
I kinda gulped. My baby! Pierce is four. His birth feels like yesterday. Four years is but a moment.
It gave me pause, because the days seen so long, but the years are so, so short. I feel like I need to make a checklist, so as to not forget anything I need to teach this dear girl, before she’s grown and gone.
Then she went in, played dolls with Elliot, and picked out matching outfits for her, Elliot, and the doll to wear. Just because she loves her baby sister.
Then she made a supper, without help and with barely a word of instruction.
She washed a load of laundry, just because it needed to be done.
And I realized – I’m working myself out of a job here.
Day by day, working alongside my children, teaching them what I know; they need me less and less. They’ll be far more prepared for adult life than I was, merely because of how much we work together to make our days go smoothly. There’s always a meal make, a meal to clean up, laundry to do, a diaper to change. I was one of two, and the youngest. This world looks far, far different.
Eden’s eleven. She’s an expert bathroom scrubber. She loves to cook. She makes my coffee every morning… ie, she provides my sanity in a cup.
Sterling is nine. His bedroom is rarely anything but neat. He prefers all things outdoors and helping with anything I need outside.
Ruby’s seven. She carries Stellan… all eighteen or so pounds of him… like she’s done it all her life. She loves him and he loves her.
Charlotte’s five. She reads like she’s an adult. She’s an expert dishwasher loader.
Pierce is four. He can clear a table of dirty dishes like he’s done it all his life… because he has.
Elliot’s two. She’s a minimalist… when it comes to work. She loves to get things for her daddy. She doesn’t love to put things away. But… she’s learning. She has six older siblings to watch and learn from.
It’s a strange place, to know my house can function for a day or three and nothing will fall apart.
At least until they out of groceries and no one is old enough to drive to the store… or the floor needs to be mopped. No one seems to volunteer for mopping.
I think it’s good and right, to work together, play together, and learn together. I’m so thankful to do this motherhood thing in a large family world. There’s an abundance of opportunities teach, to serve, to learn. It’s exhausting often, to be sure, but watching them do things like my thirteen year old digging through doll clothes to find just the right doll outfit for the two year old’s liking, then dressing the doll for the thirty-sixth time that day, because the two year old can’t help but strip that baby doll to naked every 45 seconds… it speaks of service, love , compassion, and patience.
And maybe a spoiled two year old. But I digress.
We got groceries today, and Stellan needed to nurse right as we got home. By the time he was finished, the kids had the van unloaded and the groceries put away. While I haven’t ventured to to the basement to see if the shelves maintain their proper order, I’m betting they do.
The kitchen floor though… while the evidence declares that they’ve learned much, recognizing a dirty floor is a skill they’ve yet to master.
Pressing on.
No, she doesn’t need to be thinking 4 years from now. HA!! What a great job you have accomplished teaching your children how to work together. To read what all they can do is amazing. Not only are you teaching them reading, writing, and math, but life skills. So many children are not getting that. You should be proud of all you have done and all your kiddos can do.
GOD BLESS!!
You are great mom– so glad I have you to look up to in this area (though, with the stress and cost of adoption, I don’t think our family will be as big as yours in the end…).
You are doing such a great job! Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get there with my kiddos. Maybe I need to think about what they do and can do, not what I see undone. I was terribly sick in bed, unable to get up (thanks to number 6 of course!) early this week and the house ran. They ate and took care of Jimmy’s naps…..the house was a mess but when Jay got home they cleaned it up. Still, I think you’re doing something I’m not. No one has ever put laundry on by themselves and I think I need to teach way more cooking than I do……
You’ll get there, promise! Your week speaks volumes of the teaching you’ve done – they didn’t starve! I bet if you challenge your oldest to aim for a load of laundry a day, and your youngest with keeping the dryer emptied, they’d be all over that. Teaching cooking… it’s a lesson in patience – for me. I often have a row of kids on stools, each with whatever task I set them to in front of them. It’s messy and frustrating and slow, but reaps great rewards. Even Elliot owns a potato peeler. She’s unproductive, but she doesn’t know that. They all love to help. Slowly but surely, that turns into real help, in a reasonable amount of time. My older girls used to take hours to get a recipe put together for supper. Now, they are nearly as fast as I am. Soon enough!
You’re doing such a good job. I know you were an inspiration to a mother of 4 last week! I’ve always been impressed. There are not many families of 8 children I would welcome into my home without thinking twice. But, your gang is welcome here anytime. I have to admit that it’s because we all pitch in. I don’t have to do it all and I hope you all enjoy working together to have a pleasant visit. I love seeing them show off their Momma’s good teaching.
It was so good to meet your family! What a fun afternoon. That mother of four does a fabulous job; her children were a delight.
Pitching in is pretty important around here – I don’t know how we’d function without all hands on deck! Thanks for your encouragement. It means the world.