Seeing Both Sides

I'm tired of people who preach tolerance in one breath and belittle people who dare to think differently than them in the next.

I'm tired of people who don't try to understand the other side.

I'm tired of angry words.

I'm tired of hate.

I believe most people are good.

I believe most politicians want what's best for our country.

I believe most churches are filled with good people who want to serve others and serve the god they worship.

Maybe this makes me stupid. Or blind. Or both.

It probably shows how naive I am.

Oh well.

I just think that maybe we'd live in a better world if we spent less time trying to be heard and more time trying to hear and understand others.

Being a Mom

Sometimes I get a little annoyed when I see interviews with celebrity moms. Many times the focus is on their designer nursery or their creative naming skills and NOT on the fact that they are responsible for a small person and need to do their best not to screw up that small person's life.

I'm here to tell you that being a mom has NOTHING to do with designer nurseries. It has very little to do with cute clothes, creative baby names or fancy car seats.

Being a mom is about waking up with a newborn every three hours day and night. It's about sleeping on the floor next to the crib when a toddler has croup so you can hear each rattly breath and know he's still breathing.

Being a mom is about cleaning carpet a million times when it's time to potty train and not getting upset when a five-year-old still has an accident every now and then.

Being a mom is about comforting a six-year-old when a kid at school has been mean. It's about sitting down with a book and trying to explain why the a in "have" doesn't make a long A sound.

And being a mom is about skipping a birthday celebration so you can be up all night with three kids with 102+ degree temperatures. It's about cleaning puke, and poop, and pee ALL THE TIME.

Being a mom is not glamorous.

Today is my birthday. I'm 31. I feel happy about these 31 years. I'm glad I graduated from college. I feel very lucky that I was able to marry my best friend. I'm pleased that I've written a few books. But I'm most proud of the seven years I've spent being a mom.

This morning my sweet sick children brought me birthday cards full of pictures they'd drawn and creatively spelled versions of "I love you, Mom."

Being a mom is hard, but it's so, so worth it.

Inspiration

Guess where we've been?

Yesterday we (my husband, 4 kids, and I) spent nine hours on airplanes/in airports coming back from one of the most interesting places in the world. I'm BEAT, but very inspired.

I'm also already missing the beignets and gumbo.

Have you ever been to Louisiana?

Time, or the Lack Thereof

Sometimes I feel like my time is a giant pizza sitting in front of a room of starving people.

I yell, "Dinnertime!" and everyone lunges for a slice. By the time I get to the table all that's left are crumbs.

The problem is all these people deserve my time. I WANT to give it to them.

But I want some for me too.

I feel like I'll always be searching for that balance.

Do you ever feel like that?

Be Happy Now

If you aren't happy now you probably won't be happy when you have:

An agent

A book deal

A bestselling book

A movie based on your book

A theme park based on your movie

Millions of dollars

Etc.

That is all.

Get it Done

Lately I've been making a lot of excuses not to write.

The last few weeks have been NUTS. We've had a slew of school activities, doctor's visits, and volunteer commitments. Now, we're in the middle of a pretty big remodeling project and my four-year-old just started puking.

Nice.

I decided to let my writing time slide, thinking I'd get back to it when I'm not so swamped.

Then I read this on Jody Hedlund's blog, and realized I need to make time to write. Life is chaotic, but I know I can carve out an hour to write, even on my busiest days, as long as I make it a priority.

I NEED that hour.

I'm going to try harder to make it happen.

Do you struggle to fit writing into your daily schedule?

A Year

Sometimes I get tunnel vision. When I have a goal, whether it be renovating a bathroom or publishing a book, I put all my energy into it, often letting other important things slide.

Every now and then I need to be reminded of my priorities.

This happened one year ago, when I had my fourth baby. There were complications and as a result my little guy spent the first two weeks of his life in the hospital, learning to breathe.

Those weeks were the hardest of my life, but they were also cleansing in a way. I focused entirely on him. The only thing in the whole world I wanted was for him to be okay. All those other things, things I thought were important, disappeared.

I've tried to remember those weeks as I've gone through this year. It's been a frustrating time for my writing. Things haven't always happened the way I hoped they would.

But, when I think about the what REALLY matters to me, I have no complaints.

My little guy is a healthy, thriving one-year-old now.

My family is happy. Life is good. And I am grateful.