Take a Minute

I got home yesterday to a Blue Apron delivery that I forgot to skip, but I was pretty excited because the meals included were awesome.  I was home earlier than usual, and I wanted to get a crack at it since I had extra time at home, which meant extra time with Charlotte anyway.  I started to make the paprika shrimp over cheddar and corn grits because the recipe card said it only takes 20-30 minutes.  The recipe card doesn’t take into account cooking with a toddler.  I got the grits going just fine.  I hold Charlie girl on one hip while I stir things in the pot now because she is starting to take interest in what I’m cooking.  That interest lasted only long enough for the grits to finish.  She was not in the mood to have me chop up the vegetables or cook the shrimp or do anything else.  She kept saying “come on, ma!” (which is the cutest thing ever) and actually pushing me out of the kitchen.  I kept getting frustrated with her and kept saying “please, just let me finish!” and after about an hour my 20-30 minute meal was complete and ready to go for lunch the next day. (Side note: I forgot to bring it for lunch today, so womp womp to me).  The whole time all she wanted me to do was sit on the couch with her and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while she had her bottle.  It made me realize that things have changed and I need to take a minute to remember that every now and then.  My days of coming home and cooking gourmet meals when she’s awake are over.  Getting shrimp and grits ready isn’t the priority anymore.  I think that I, along with many other moms, working and stay-at-home, kind of forget that we aren’t the same women we were before.  We can’t do everything the way we used to do it and we shouldn’t expect ourselves to.  We can’t hold ourselves to the standard of the women we were before we had kids, because we aren’t those women anymore.  Children change you completely.  They change your body, they change your priorities, they change your soul.  So yesterday when my food was a mess and my little girl just wanted to sit on my lap and watch a show, I had to remind myself that this moment was important.  There will be hundreds of other meals in my lifetime, but how many moments will I have with my baby wanting to sit in my lap and rub my arms while she watches TV?  Those moments are going to end far more quickly than I’d like, and if the kitchen is a mess and the food is burnt and you’re eating Lucky Charms for dinner, that’s okay.  We can’t be perfect moms, but we can enjoy these perfect moments with our little ones while they last.