Laugh, Mama!

Finding the Fun as a Mom

Creativity doesn’t have to look like how we expect. You may think, “I am not creative because I don’t do __________”(fill in the blank). However, everyone has creativity etched inside of them. When we begin to look at something in a different light, we make something new! I believe this is the foundation of creativity. As moms, we can lose sight of why we are doing what we are doing. We fear that if we don’t do all the things our kids will suffer the consequences for the rest of their lives. And we will get the blame. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of things kids need to do well and be healthy. However, if we feel like we are riding on the backs of our rigid schedules, unable to find ourselves, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate. Having a fresh perspective can invite the joy back into our routines. 

One of the biggest wakeup calls for me occurred during my coaching program when I realized I wasn’t having much fun in my life. I thought to myself, I am a pretty fun person. But when I thought about the monotony of doing the same thing over and over again as a parent, I realized I fell privy to the belief that fun wasn’t in the job description. I looked around at other moms and felt the pressure to do parenting like them. I tried juggling the many tasks they say your kids need to make it but felt stuck. I found the routines I made for my kids to be boring yet necessary. But during my program I realized that I didn’t need to or even want to do half of what I was doing. I had more control in my life than I believed. I wasn’t satisfied with where I was and had forgotten about the joy and fun that was available to me. I decided I wanted to shift from taking everything so seriously to enjoying life and finding delight in the little things. 

The other day, my 1 year old Jordan had a poopy diaper and I knew we only had one wipe left. I told myself “Challenge Accepted”. Expert Mom mode loading! 🤓 

I open his diaper and it’s a doozy. Not quite solid, not quite liquid and his whole bottom was a mushy mess. I think to myself, I can still do this! Then I remembered we had more wipes in our room, but it was too far away to get to and I already committed. As I reached for the one wipe, Jordan pulled the diaper toward him and I’m contemplating whether or not I should reach for the diaper or the one wipe. Diaper or one wipe? Diaper or one wipe? I went for the diaper but it was too late. He had a handful of poop in his hand and the diaper dropped to the floor. He looked at his hand and freaked out. I looked at his hand and freaked out. All I could do was yell Gross!!!! Then he begins to fling his poop off his hand and onto our rug. Now I’m debating how I use this one wipe. Bottom or hand? Bottom or hand? I wipe his bottom as fast as I can hoping and praying that the situation doesn’t get worse. I try my best to clean everything up with this one wipe. I’m folding it up as small as I can like I’m making an origami masterpiece. I used every square inch and his bottom was seemingly clean. I felt pretty proud of myself. Then I look up at Jordan. Some of the feces transferred from his fingers to his face. Nooooo!!! I ran him to the bathroom and washed both his hands and face as fast as I could (he doesn’t have a diaper on yet). I take him with me to my room to get the emergency wipes only to find there’s only one or two in there. Our household was suffering from a wipe shortage! I used a wipe to go over any areas I might have missed the first time and finished putting his diaper on. Phew! Jordan was finally changed and clean and I was glad it was over! 

But there was just one thing I forgot.

The poop he flung. 💩

I hear my older son E.J. say he stepped in something. He is literally across the room.

In my mind, I’m thinking how did the poop end up all the way over there? It was on his foot and our wedding pillow. 

Now it was E.J.’s turn to be carried to the bathroom. This time to the bathtub to clean off his feet. I washed him up and scrubbed our pillowcase then added it to our ever-growing pile of laundry. Then E.J. pointed me to the area where he stepped in poop. I cleaned this last section and sighed. I still had an eerie feeling that there was still at least one area where the poop hid, but I decided not to worry about it and move on to something else. 

Normally, a day like this one would have been extremely frustrating and I would have even expected all of these events to take place because I’d believe the unlikeliest of things to happen to me and no one else. But when I shifted to a playful mode where the poop became an enemy I needed to defeat, my joy was restored. Instead of getting upset that I didn’t have enough wipes and that this diaper change took me 13 minutes rather than 3, I was delighted by the experience and thought about the benefit in sharing it with others who might be encouraged by it.

Think of how you can add a little bit of creativity and fun into your life simply by shifting your perspective Mama! Maybe you too have focused more on the tasks than the reason behind it. Remind yourself that you are doing an incredible job and can laugh at life’s little unexpected twists and turns. 

P.S. If you have had an experience like mine, consider adding Poop Manager to your resume. 

This article is not meant to put more pressure on those who are struggling with anxiety, depression, or the like. If you find yourself having difficulty with basic functioning like eating, sleeping, getting out of bed, etc. consider finding a therapist and talking with a doctor. If you have thoughts of harming yourself or others, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.