enjoy the doing

My mom has always said to me, "Enjoy the doing, not the done."  

I don't think I really understood it for at least the first twenty-five years of my life.  

And maybe even longer than that.

Today, today, I understood. 

I had a list of things to do a mile long. 

Most of them were things I wanted to do (or at least wanted to have done), 

but the size of the list was daunting.

Wash the dishes, put away the dishes, do the laundry, fold the laundry, put away the laundry, make bread, cinnamon rolls, raisin bread and sweep the kitchen.  Scrub the bathrooms, change the sheets, replace the hand towels. Take out the garbage, refill the soap dispensers, organize the playroom.

As I was completing all these chores, I really heard the words my mom said.  

Enjoy the doing, she whispered in my ear as I hustled about the house.

Enjoy the feeling of putting fresh sheets on the boys' bed...  
Enjoy the repetition of washing the dishes...  
Enjoy the steps of baking: stirring, kneading, rolling...

Then I started thinking about how this applies not only to the small, daily things, but also to the big picture.  

If I rush through raising these children, only to arrive at the done, I will have missed it. 

This goes hand in hand with what I have been working on all year.  

Take care and teach 

Remembering that my job is to take care and teach reminds me to slow down.  

To take a moment and to hug them when they are sad.

To take a moment to teach them when they have made a mistake.

Enjoying the doing is an extension of that idea.  

Don't rush through bed time, bath time, dinner time.  

Enjoy it.  

Take the time to let them climb into my big cozy bed, under the covers, for story time once in a while.  

Say yes and let them play with shaving cream in the tub once in a while.  

Listen as I wash the dishes to their bare feet slapping the floor while they repeat in sing-song voices, 

"Wyatt, you can't get me!!!" and a chase full of giggles ensues.  

Tonight I did just that.  

We crawled into my bed, leaving Wyatt downstairs with Daddy, to read books.

We picked four books instead of two.  

We used new "special" toothpaste instead of the same ol'.

And then Josh and I took our time tucking them in, and listened to their nightly prayers.

And you know what we heard?

"Thank you God for letting me spend time with Daddy."
"Thank you for cinnamon rolls from Mommy."

When we slow down and enjoy the doing, the boys know.

They know.

This holiday season when things get crazy hectic in my house, 

as I'm sure they will, I am going to give myself permission.

Permission to stop and luxuriate in the moment.

Because good moments are all around me.

Jack reading to Wyatt in the playroom.

Logan saying, as he plays hide & seek, "Where could those two be?"

Wyatt laying his head upon my chest requesting, "more song" as I rock him to sleep.

My three boys piled around me on the couch, snuggled under blankets, reading.

My mom was on to something there.
Enjoy the doing, not the done.
It's brilliant.