A Messy Message

It occurs to me that I have written extensively of late about transitional experiences related to my college age children. A great many of you, then, with younger kids (or nieces or nephews or grandchildren) may not have gotten your fair share. So here’s a little something for those with younger families around them. The fact is that us grownups can get plum worn out by the younger children in our lives sometimes. The mess gets to us, the noise gets to us, you have trouble even carving out a little time for yourselves. Oh, there’s a great deal of good. The total experience is extremely satisfying. However, when you’re in the trenches of child rearing every day you can lose perspective. Here’s a true story from my own life about a week when I was wearing thin and how the beauty of parenting finally got through to me. Enjoy, and be sure to pass this on to someone whom you know needs a little perspective as well.

A Messy Message
I worked late tonight, as I often do
My family had gone to bed
I came home to a very messy house
A sight I often dread
But I didn't feel that way tonight
Sometimes I like it this way
The dishes and toys tell tale of
A busy, but happy day
Homework laid out in the dining room
And crayons strewn on the floor
Lego dumped out in a giant pile
And art on the ice box door
How many times have I complained
Hum-bugging until I was blue
Barking orders for kids to clean their rooms
Supervising until they were through
How many times had I overlooked
The hours of creative play
That went into what seemed a mess to me
As I ordered it put away
How many dishes had gone unwashed
And laundry in hampers stayed
While the mother who loves my children so
Read them stories or just simply played
How many times had I judged my home
And the loved ones who dwell with me there
By the organization I expect
How often I'd been unfair
I pondered these things as I surveyed the mess
Just pausing to take it all in
And I realized, finally, what I'd overlooked
In mixing up blessings and sins
I must learn to remember while I'm hard at work
That my children and wife are here
And she's probably working as hard as I do
Our family is her career
So I sit on the floor amidst all the mess
And finding a crayon or two
I say to myself, "Oh well, when in Rome..."
Then I color a picture or two
By Frank Carpenter ©