Tonight I am vulnerable and hesitant to put the ugly truth on the World Wide Web, but the truth shall set me free, right?
Here goes…
There are many nights upon whence my head hits the pillow, I have a satisfied feeling of having put in a good day’s work and my body is contentedly exhausted. Today was not one of those days. Today, my children woke me up with their standard 6:00 a.m. blood-curdling screams, which seems to be their accepted alternative to the more humane statement, “Pardon me, Mother Dear, but it seems we have awakened. Might we please get up?”
Many days, I crawl out of bed, make coffee, push through the pain, and end up having a fabulous and productive day (I really DO love this HarvestHer life!!!!). But today, I hooked a child under each arm and flopped them on my bed, popped in a DVD of “The Lone Ranger” (the original black-and-white), and fed them scrambled eggs in bed. We lounged here for a couple hours; ie. I tried to sleep while Rooster (my two-year-old, Ruthanne) hit me in the face repeatedly with a hairbrush. Part of the problem, I think, is that we have nothing to do, since Caleb doesn’t want us bringing food out to the field (he says it’s too far) and he doesn’t need us to help run any equipment. I know I’m supposed to feel a sense of purpose in life itself, not just my duties, but God is still teaching me that lesson.
We finally dragged ourselves out of bed, but I was highly motivated by a lunch date in Lawton, OK with Katie Wenger, of Wenger Harvesting. It was so good to touch base with a fellow HarvestHer who is so loving and encouraging and REAL!! But Sissy (my one-year-old, Miriam), broke out in face hives from cherries. She has really bad food allergies and something called Milk Soy Protein Intolerance, and we are still discovering food reactions all the time. Now we can add cherries to the list.
I gave her baby Benadryl and loaded up the babes in the pickup.
When we got home, the kids and I all napped. A random thunderstorm woke them up 3 minutes after they fell asleep. There were tears (on my part, too, because I’m exhausted—I know, I know, what do I have to be exhausted from? My strenuous day? But I AM.) I rolled over, put a pillow over my face, and the kids must have gone to sleep. They woke me at 6:40 p.m. with their spine-tingling screams again. You would think that after such a good nap, I would be grateful and functional again. Nope. More Lone Ranger and PB&J in bed.
After this, we joined Brittany Anthony (wife of one of my husband’s right-hand-men) in her camper for coffee, cookies, and grown-up fellowship. We talked and talked and emotionally vomited at each other till I finally put the kids to bed (in their clothes) at 11 p.m. I have scrambled eggs in my hair and crumbs in my bed. Don’t care. I’m going to sleep anyway. Also, Rooster peed a little on Caleb’s side of the bed. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, I guess. Weird day.
You can also follow Molly and her story by visiting her blog –www.mollysdirtintheskirt.wordpress.com
1. Be ready to go at the drop of a hat...sometimes without a lunchbox.
2. Has removed the word impossible from her vocabulary!
3. Can hold a baby, take care of a toddler and drive a tractor or combine all at the same time.
4. Must be able to cook for a crew - large or small.
5. Must be able to read minds.
6. Must be able to banter with a parts man until he realizes you DO know what you're talking about.
7. Must be the entertainment director for those rainy days.
8. Be a wife, mom, friend, helper, cook, problem solver, taxi driver or extra crew hand at all times.
9. Can handle the call that makes you react, "You need what? When?" Dropping everything you're doing to make it happen.
10. At the end of the day say, "I really do love this life".