Recently, I had a very crazy week. Completely out of our “normal” routine as a family, and anyone with a little one knows how important routines are to them! During this week, one of the nights I was getting home much later than normal. I knew I wouldn’t be home to cook dinner or even bring dinner home for our family. So that previous weekend I cooked and made plenty of options for my husband and son to choose from on that night I would be home later than normal. The day was a lot, and I was so looking forward to coming home and seeing my family. In my mind my little guy, Charlie, would have eaten dinner, had a bath and be winding down watching his favorite show. My expectations were high and when I came home that was not the case at all…
When I pulled into our driveway Charlie and his dad were still outside, Charlie was eating Combos… the pizza ones (don’t get me wrong, they are delicious, just not what I had in mind for his dinner.) He was having so much fun with his dad, but I just couldn’t see past the fact that he was STILL outside, and, in my mind, he should have already had been winding down for the night! I brought him inside and tried to get him to eat a “real dinner.” At this point it was already close to the time when he would normally go to bed, so you can imagine how well this went for me. The rest of the night was a fight. A fight with Charlie to eat, take a bath, put his jammies on …. Literally everything was a fight.
Adding this chaos to my already stressful day I did the only logical thing I knew to do… get frustrated with my husband of course! I made the night SO much worse. Not only was Charlie throwing a fit, but I was also throwing a fit and getting mad at the only other person in the house that could actually help me. I wish I could go back and do that night over. Have you ever been there before?
We have so much on our plates as mamas. We try to do all the things, plan all the things, stick to all the routines and it’s all just so much. Maybe sometimes we just need to step back and give ourselves some grace. Maybe the expectations that we are putting on ourselves don’t really have to be there, maybe if we let some things go there would be more JOY and less stress and strife in our lives and our families. God came that we would have life and life more abundantly. (John 10:10) I don’t know what that looks like for you, and what you can lay down and take off your plate. But for me, it may start with being okay with Combos for dinner sometimes.
Ashley McClain is a Wife to Bobby, Mom to Charlie, General Manager of CTN-WHTN Nashville and Host of – What If? Moments for Moms aired nationally on the Christian Television Network. Currently surviving on Grace and Coffee… lots and lots of Coffee.
