Did anyone else watch Parenthood last week?

If not, Christina, mom of three and five weeks post-partum if feeling totally alone and unappreciated as she juggles three kids, a house in the sleep-deprived newborn state.  She decides to plan a family night—where the whole family can get away and reconnect, but as they drive to go mini-golfing, the kids start complaining, her husband isn’t being supportive and she loses it.  She ends up telling her husband to pull over, kicks her older kids and husband out of the car and drives off, leaving them to walk home.

Crazy, right?

Ummm, not so much.

In fact, as I watched the scene, the first thing that popped into my mind was “Oh my, there have been like six times in the last two weeks that I’ve wanted to do exactly that.”

Okay, so I probably wouldn’t leave my kids on the side of the street to fend for themselves (they aren’t as old as Christina’s kids on Parenthood), but sometimes I feel like everyone is wanting, wanting, wanting things from me… I need a cup of water, the baby’s hungry, I need more Nutella on my toast because I licked it all off, find my sparkle silver boots because the black boots won’t do, Clean my Yoda underdrawers because the Yoda underdrawers are the ONLY ones that I will wear to school,  do the dishes, wash the laundry, get the baby up from his nap, drive me to Football, get me a snack, turn on the TV because I’m scared of the beeping noise it makes when I turn it on… and the list goes on.

Aside from leaving our kids on the side of the road, how can we deal?  How can we be joyful as mothers without losing our cool and doing something crazy?  I don’t know the answer… and I’m starting to discover that as a blogger, I often have more questions than answers… but at the very least, I’d love to hear from you and get a conversation started around joyful motherhood.

So, your turn:  How do you stay joyful in motherhood when your days and your tasks are anything but joyful?

P.S.  Last chance to win a $25 gift card to The Little Card Company!  Click here to enter!

Part of me doesn’t want my baby to start sleeping through the night.

Of course, there’s the part of me who’s sick of dragging myself out of bed every morning at 2 am (and 4 am…. And 5 am…) to feed the baby who simply won’t take milk from anyone but Mommy… but there’s part of me that savors the sound of crying on the monitor.

Now, before you dismiss me as crazy, let me explain.

You see, Will is my last baby.  Definitely my last.  Technically, Kate, my second was my last for three years, but this time I mean it.  I am not having any more.  And, because of that, these baby days are passing all too fast.  With my other two, I prayed that they’d start sleeping through the night… and cheered them on as they learned to sit, crawl and walk.  But with Will, I’m doing the opposite.  I’m praying he stays my baby just a little while longer.

So, for now, I’m savoring those middle-of-the-night wake-up calls.

I’m stroking his little head, sleepily rubbing his face and praying for this sweet and unexpected blessing that God has bestowed on me.

Because all too soon, my midnight wake-up calls will be over.

Question for you: What part of your life right now are you savoring?