There are days when I’m certain this phase of life might actually kill me off.

After a day of breaking up fights, making meals that people request and don’t intend to eat, listening to whining about…everything, running kids from one activity to the next, attempting to keep up with laundry and dishes, and trying to maintain order with three young ruffians, my sanity hangs by a very feeble thread.

There are days when I can’t wait for this phase of life to be over.

I ask Mr. Spreadsheets, “Won’t it be great when our kids are bigger?”

I dream of the days when they are all potty trained, when everyone can feed themselves, and when they need me just a little bit less.

Every time I say this, I am reminded that there are phases of life that we’ve completed. We’ve finished with the tiny kids and baby stage of life. And while I enjoy sleeping through the night and having kiddos that can use actual words to tell me what they want, there is a part of me that misses my “tiny” kids. I wouldn’t trade this stage for the last one, but if I had a magic wand, I’d take one day of those three sweet babies again.

Last night was a perfect example of the madness that accompanies this stage of life, there’s not a better way to describe it.

Harry Potter had hours of All-Star practice, the Princess and AsthmaMan went to bed way too late because of said practice, Everyone was hot, sweaty, and cranky (thank you Texas summer), and Mr. Spreadsheets was out of town for work.

After I put the kids to bed, cleaned up the downstairs kid explosion, remembered to eat dinner (thank you Chobani Flips!), and graded a batch of papers, my brain was fried and I was frustrated.

As I went to bed, I prayed that tomorrow would be a less intense day, and that I would be able to appreciate a small portion of this time of life despite the volume and chaos.

We’re in the midst of the seemingly never ending sports practices, long hours at work, and piles of dirty dishes phase of life.

Every day is an adventure, but every days is also filled with hours of mundane tasks, planning and preparing for the future, and paying our dues.

Every day is filled with teaching and reteaching lessons, every day is filled with practicing patience, and most days we feel like we are slowly (or quickly) sliding backwards.

Sometimes this can be exhausting.

I will admit that on more than one occasion I have looked heavenward and silently asked “Seriously?! How am I supposed to do this, let alone like doing this?!!”

I’m fairly certain that like any loving parent, God has a sense of humor. I’m also certain that he hears our silent pleadings and provides answers in ways he knows we will listen.

This morning, I was in the middle of making slime with the Princess and AsthmaMan. I was literally up to my elbows in glue (an essential ingredient in homemade slime), when a song came on the radio that stopped me in my tracks. I stood there listening with glue dripping off my hands, while AsthmaMan asked me if I was ok.

The song is titled, Dirty Dishes, by Scotty McCreery.

Let me stop you before any negative things are said about country music. Country music is great, that’s it.

Anyway the song includes the following lines:

Mama hollers, “Supper time,
And don’t make me tell you twice
Wash your hands and wipe your face
The table’s no place for your toys,
And try to use your inside voice,
Don’t dig in ’til we say Grace”

“I wanna thank you Lord,
For noisy children and slamming doors,
And clothes scattered all over the floor
My husband workin’ all the time,
Draggin’ in dead tired at night,
My never ending messy kitchen
And dirty dishes”

…Noisy kids are happy kids,
And slamming doors just means we live
In a warm and loving home
Your long hours and those dishes in the sink
Means a job and enough to eat”

It’s like the song writers observed my life to write the lyrics… it describes life perfectly, right down to the line about the “husband workin’ all the time,
draggin’ in dead tired at night” 

Before you say to yourself, “Seriously Ash, answers in a Scotty McCreery song?” I’m not saying this song was divinely inspired, all I’m saying is that the song was a beautiful (country) reminder that life is good, and there is much to be grateful for even in the midst of crazy schedules, loud kids, and piles of dishes.

Like all phases of life, this too will end and change, but for now this is where we are. We’re in the stage where life is overwhelming and busy, the stage where getting ahead on our tasks isn’t always realistic, and the stage where frustration and setbacks are a part of daily life.

We’re in the stage where we work long hours, the stage where much of our time is spent shuttling kids from one activity to another, and the stage of life where we can’t think outside the kid bubble.

But we are also in the stage where we are blessed to interact daily with these three amazing, strong, and intelligent people, the stage where we bond with and learn from other parents, and the stage where we get to understand what it truly means to be unselfish.

This is a good stage of life.

Oh and I’m totally going to make a sign for my kitchen that says “Noisy kids are happy kids, and slamming doors just means we live in a warm and loving home”, Cheesy, I know- but honestly has there ever been a wooden sign that wasn’t at least a little bit over the top?