On Blogging and Brazil and Facebook and Finland

Spending time reflecting on the minutiae of my daily life has been helpful to me. Looking at my life surrounded by these precious little lives and wondering what I need to learn from them deepens this experience for me. And, writing about it can help those lessons and memories to stick. Originally this had been the hope and plan for this simple blog. Over time however, that view has changed, adjusted, become something new.

As I poke around my blog and hear from regular readers, I am reminded that this work of mothering may feel a titch lonely from time to time. But actually, it is done in vast community with others all over this amazing planet. I do not think I would be aware of this had I not chosen to blog but the reality of it is both comforting and humbling.

I was blog-surfing today and came across my blog listed on someone else's site. I have never met them and they live far away. But, to me, it was another reminder about how connected we really are... how our work in raising little ones is, at its very core, so similar. We may live in Alaska or Florida or somewhere in between, but we all woke up this morning, put our weary feet on the floor and began the day by responding to the needs of someone who is likely not old enough to vote. And, together, we will cook and clean and kiss and cuddle through this long and sunny Saturday until all are safe in bed and we fall, fatigued, into the same.

Every week, I help to run a MOMs Group with a great group of enthusiastic women. A few weeks ago, we wandered off-task into a discussion about Facebook. There are so many women who are in this stage of motherhood that have found there way to that site. We wondered together why there was so much enthusiasm for Facebook among this very busy group. Our talk together revealed some truth about our lives. While we love our families and we love our children and we would not change a thing... we can get a little lonely. We weary from talking in three word sentences and spending the day forgetting ourselves. We long for connection outside our home and seek to find that which we are doing, every single day, is also happening somewhere else. Please hear me... this work of mothering is worth it and full and glorious and good... but sometimes we get a little tired. Sometimes, we feel a little alone.

In finding my way to blogging, I never would have guessed that I would be able to connect to others all over the world. In the past month alone, folks have wandered in here from Malaysia, Canada, Argentina, Ireland, Finland, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Brazil, and 24 of the 50 states. My dear friends, can you see it? You are not alone. You are not alone. This is just one simple blog, one mom's thoughts on life with her family. But, standing all around us are moms from all over the world, doing exactly what we do. They are loving on their children, trying to find a minute to themselves, and looking for connection. Just like you. Just like me. This picture in my head is wonderful and rich and seeped in the kind of community that can renew our vision for what we really do. This picture of mommas in Brazil and Finland both embracing their babies makes me smile and feel encouraged. And maybe, just maybe, in imagining that scene somewhere else, I can see anew the importance of what I am doing today.

It is Saturday. I am home with my two youngest and the day is spread out before me. As I finish this blog, I am going to go upstairs, get dressed, and get my kids ready for a walk outside. We are going to take our dog and we are going to let the Spring sun fall upon our faces. We are going to sit at a baseball game and cheer for our team and we are going to wander outside looking for proof that Winter has ended and a new season has come. What about you? What does this Saturday hold for you? Wherever you are today, whatever you are doing, remember that there are others who laugh with you, share your frustration and know the minutiae of your ordinary day. And they know, like you, that there is power in the simplest moment; your child's arms around your neck, the peaceful breath of a newborn, the reckless abandon of a child at play, the kiss that you place on the forehead of your child. We all see that. Together. All over the world.