Who Needs Me

“A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great.” Proverbs 18:16


We spent Friday night at my dad’s and returned on Saturday. The cat, who usually acts as if she doesn’t care whether we live or die, must have missed us. I’ve become predictable in my days at home and she knows that she can expect to be let into the garage around 8:30 every morning and that my 5YO will pet and feed her. I guess this routine has her thinking maybe we’re not so bad after all.

After returning home, we discovered a dead baby robin by the driveway, along with some miscellaneous intestinal items surrounded by rabbit fur. Then we found another dead robin in the garage and a small snake on the driveway. She must have REALLY missed us to have gone to all that trouble celebrating our return!

Isn’t it nice to feel needed?

Now that the kids are older and can fend for themselves for the most part, I am basking in what I believe may be the honeymoon phase of my motherhood experience. Everyone in my house, I am proud to report, can use the bathroom, get dressed, and even make themselves a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, without any of my help. They can fix cereal, pour milk, and flip grilled cheese on the griddle. My 7YO even knows how to set the griddle for 350 degrees, so we’re halfway there.

The fact of the matter is that I’m working myself out of a job.

But wasn’t that the plan all along?

Someday I hope to run off with my husband on a long weekend vacation without worrying about school schedules, packing four people, and other peoples’ toothbrushes. Someday I hope to stay home and send my children grocery shopping. Someday I hope to say, “Mommy’s tired tonight. Why don’t you cook dinner?” Someday I might even sleep in past 7:00 am.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day yesterday. May you feel needed for as long as you need to feel needed. Even if it is by the cat.

“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.” Proverbs 1:8-9