Are you indispensible?

I apparently am. : ) However, I have been thinking long and hard about this over the past week. We are getting back on top of the house which is good since some things have really slipped over the last week. It doesn't take long for 11 people to notice even minor lapses in dishes or laundry.  The little boys had hit a bit of a rough patch too. Combination of schedule irregularities and holiday treats at every turn when they go out.  Oh and mom being out of pocket.  Allen and I were disappointed initially but the more we talk and think the more sense it is all making. Its not that we failed, it is that we are necessary. If children weren't so darn well, childish, then they wouldn't need us, would they?  This whole life I have built here would amount to little more than a token role.

Like the poles that support young trees and keep them growing upright, our job is to continually counter tendencies that would stunt or alter growth in unhealthy ways. I remember Sally Clarkson talking about her little Dachshund named Happy. She said he would run back and forth along the fence until no grass would ever grow there.  She saw an analogy in that path he created to her own parenting. Her guidance was effectively telling her children over and over, "Not this way, that way," until they were no longer inclined to make those mistakes. Their errant behavior was like the weeds that would appear along that fence. Her redirection was like that little dog continually checking that growth.

Someday these children will be able to run a home and make consistently responsible decisions with no outside direction. That day is not today. That is why I am indispensible here. The corporate world will go on without me. Retail stores find new clerks. Even hospitals can replace the best of physicians. But no one else can be their mother. If this job doesn't get done diligently and lovingly there is a hole left noone will be able to close. So I will nurse this baby in close proximity to the washing machine and I will ask again if the dishwasher has been emptied. I will remind little people to brush their teeth and feed the dog. And I will remember that I can be something to everyone or I can everything to these 10 people.

Comments

[Meredith]

Beautifully said, and from such experience!! Hope you're enjoying your precious new baby and please take care and have a lovely Christmas with all your bundles of joy!!! God's Blessings to you all, Peace!

[Cay in La.]

Brilliant!!!

[KatieButler]

What a wonderful post--we all need the reminder of how irreplacable we are in our children's (and family's) lives.

[Elizabeth Foss]

I don't know how I missed this the first time around. Maybe God knew I'd need it today. Thanks!

[Carla]

I just found your blog, so am reading back over past entries and loving it! What a beautiful and profound thing you have written here. I've found myself being discouraged that my just turned 12 year old daughter needs as much correcting and instruction as she does at her age, but then I realized I'm expecting too much of her. You're right - she still needs me very much! Thanks!