Boogers on the Wall

Heaven knows I’m thankful for my children. But every once in a while we really butt heads and I have a spell where I feel overwhelmed, underappreciated and unthankful as a mother. I’ve been feeling that way for a couple of weeks now.

So I decided to compile a short list of things about my children that I truly am grateful for. So that way, when I run into another overwhelmed, underappreciated and unthankful stint I can read this and remember how truly grateful I am for each one of my babies.

1. I’m thankful they were born. I wouldn’t trade the birth of any of my four boys for anything. It’s a miracle, it’s an honor to have carried each one of them and helped them make it to this earth.

2. I am thankful I get to raise three beautiful boys who are healthy, happy and very much alive.

Our third son died right before he was born. But the other three have been blessed with very good health.

My oldest might be a slight hypochondriac – I had to bring him Tylenol last week while he was at school because his loose tooth was hurting – but we haven’t suffered disease, defect or even broken bones.

We can run, skip, jump and dance around freely. We can eat what we want, and we rarely make trips to the doctor. Yay

3. I’m thankful for their bright, curious minds. Even if that means I find soapy bubbles spread across my bathroom floor or grasshopper legs next to magnifying glasses on my back patio.

The world is literally their scientific laboratory and they are always looking for new experiments. It keeps me on my toes and we are always learning something new.

4. I am thankful that my boys love to read. There is nothing I love listening to more than my children reading. Whether it’s chapter books like Harry Potter by my two oldest boys or picture-book jibberish from my one-year-old who –believe it or not – “reads” to me all the time.

We laugh at books, we learn from books and we dream of the places they take us. I LOVE sitting next to my kids on the couch, curled up in a blanket reading. Best. Activity. Ever.

5. I’m thankful they love to snuggle. It might mean I don’t get as much sleep as I would like, but it’s totally worth it. Most nights each one of my boys makes his way into my bed at some point – at least once.

A couple of weeks ago my 5-year-old snuck in at about 2 a.m. As he crawled in under the covers he said, “I love laying by you mom.” It completely melted my heart. I love cuddling to my boys.

6. I’m thankful they have each other – especially my oldest two boys. There was a time for a couple of years after my third son died that I was just going through the motions of life. Living like a grieving zombie mom.

Thank heavens my boys had each other to laugh with, to love with and to play with. I literally can’t remember much of what we did to get through those couple of rough years, but I’m glad they had each other. On those days when I didn’t want to get out of bed or off the couch, they had a playmate.

They fight like brothers do, and they are always scratching, punching or kicking each other. But deep down they love one other with all of their hearts.

My oldest son made his 5-year-old brother a badge at school on Monday that said, “Best Brother.” He then clamped it onto his brother’s shirt. A badge of honor. A badge of true friendship. A badge of brotherhood.

Now my oldest two include their youngest brother in their games. They wrestle him and toss the ball to him. He grabs their hands and makes them walk around with him all throughout the house. They hold his chubby little pointer finger and wander with him happily.

They read stories to him and write notes to him. They have taken him under their wing and they have loved him from the moment they found out I was pregnant with him.

They are brothers forever.

7. Finally, I am thankful for their forgiveness. Sometimes I feel like I am being the meanest, most unprepared, impatient, inexperienced mother of all time and yet they shrug it off like it’s no big deal.

Every once in a while I’ll apologize to them for yelling at them and they wrap their arms around me and tell me casually that it’s OK.

I’m almost certain they will get together later in life and laugh about their lunatic mother. They’ll reminisce about how she’d stomp and shout. They’ll do it lovingly and they’ll do it teasingly. They love me no matter how crazy I get.

They are true examples of unconditional love.

That’s truly amazing and it’s something to be truly thankful for.