Today I had not one… not two… but three other moms tell me that I was brave while walking around the zoo and Turtle Park with my six kids.
Honestly, I was taken back by this. I’m not brave. This is what we do. We run errands together. We go out together. We have fun together.
Brave is facing your fears and doing something out of your comfort zone…
I’m not brave…
Anymore.
I remember not so long ago, I had three kids (three and under 3) walking into the library with a baby in the sling and one kid holding each hand… and I was pregnant. I wondered how in the world I was going to do this with one more kid… I had no idea what I was doing. I was figuring it out as I went. But I kept going.
I kept taking my kids out with me.
We all adjusted. They learned the expectations. They did what mom asked of them. And it quickly became an enjoyable experience.
But it was still work. Bagging groceries with a bunch of kids waiting is stressful even if they are being well behaved.
But I still took them.
Even when I didn’t want to.
Even when it would have been easier to wait until dad gets home and go alone.
I kept taking them with me. I kept figuring it out.
Maybe I was brave back then.
But today it’s not brave. Today it’s life. Today it’s normal. Today it’s fun!
Momma with littles: Keep going. Keep taking your kids with you. Keep teaching them your expectation. Because one day, a few years from now, you’re going to be walking around the zoo enjoying your day with your kids and someone is going to think you are brave too. But really, you are just enjoying your blessings.
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6