Moms are busy every day.
Parenting is hard because they have to wash their kids’ sticky hands and faces, fold their laundry, feed them breakfast and lunch, and get them ready for school. They rarely get a break.
No matter how hard they try, a glass of milk will fall over, a toy will be stepped on, or a stain will appear.
Few mothers can afford a quick shower before bed or any alone time.
Heather Duckworth, a mother who has seen it all, writes on the things parents take for granted.
Kids’ mistakes as they grow into the people we’ve always envisaged are part of that process.
Finding delight in the turmoil is worth it because our children will look back on the messes we cleaned up as adults as the best tribute to the childhood we gave them.
Too bad not all ladies experience the chaos and disarray children create.
Children offer delight to some parents, but not all.
The famous Heather article “The Blue Stain” resonated with new and expectant mothers.
Heather’s pulse raced as she scrubbed her daughter’s slime-filled grout, remembering the mess she had to clean up years earlier.
This mother would say, “My hands were full, but so was my heart.” after a day of chasing her two-year-old triplets and four-year-old older brother, picking up toys, and making sure no one got hurt in the mounds of laundry she couldn’t finish.
Heather and her two sons danced to the radio while cleaning the playroom before bed.
Nobody could have imagined that it would be their final big laugh.
As she settled in for a nice night’s sleep, one of the boys said, “Uh, Oh,” and she saw the large blue stain that would haunt her dreams forever.
An ink-spreading pen broke in one of the triplets’ hands. The young boy looked like a smurf with blue hands, face, and clothes.
Heather became angry and felt like a bad mother while watching.
She wasn’t mad at her son, but she felt responsible for leaving the pen where kids could get it. Her emotions overcame her.
I gasped when I saw blue splatters on the floor and a huge pool of ink in our new carpet. I shouted for my dishwashing hubby to help me. I felt terrible as I brought my son to the toilet to clean him up and my husband scrubbed those brilliant blue stains on our carpet.”
Heather’s anger returned every time she noticed the stain on the new carpet. The stain symbolized her good memories with her sons until it was removed.
The child who spilled blue paint on the carpet was diagnosed with cancer a month later and died two years later, leaving the stain as a reminder of their time together.
It was still there and reminded me of my son. It constantly reminded me of my aggravation about something so minor in life.
The blue stain reminded me that life is messy, but that’s what makes it worthwhile. A continual reminder to not sweat the small stuff. A continual reminder that ‘things’ aren’t essential, but people are. A continual reminder of accidents. An ongoing reminder to let go of the small things and focus on the big things.”
She tried to hide the vibrant blue stain with furniture, but every time she cleaned the room, it stared at her, reminding her of her loss and misery.
Heather’s tale shows how frequently we take life for granted and don’t appreciate the little things that matter. She wants to tell all the moms that dirty laundry and strewn toys make their homes safe and comfortable.
Heather says that the messes caused by our loved ones make our life valuable since we will miss them. “I would have a million blue ink stains on my carpet for one more day with my son.”
Her advice to moms: don’t let the world distract you from spending time with your kids. Life is too short to scrub stains, so prioritize what matters!