Busy-ness

As a lactation consultant in a hospital, I talk with new moms every day. And every day,  I find myself saying the same things over and over again:

• "This is such a small chunk of time in your baby's life."
• "Don't be in such a hurry to get on to the next thing. Time goes too quickly."
• "This is God's way of making you just sit down and rest while you nurse your baby."
• :"Just enjoy your baby. Enjoy this time. It only comes once."
• "Don't think about _____ now. Just nurse your baby." (fill in the blank with cleaning your house, going back to work, going out of town, having people over, etc....)

I remember sitting down on the sofa to nurse a newborn Tucker. I distinctly recall the feeling of unbelievable sleepiness that would overcome me as my prolactin level soared and I felt the distinct effect of the "mothering hormone". I tell all my new moms that it is God's way of ensuring that you actually sit down, or better yet, lay down, with your newborn and just savor the quietness and peace of those minutes.

Today's moms are so stinking busy it frustrates me. It begins in the hospital when they can't even get a few undisturbed minutes with their new babies. It's nothing unusual to walk into a room full of visitors -- sometimes 10 or more - and have mom postpone feeding their baby because their oftentimes dense visitors don't take the hint and offer to step out while mom and baby learn to nurse. (Note to the public: when a mom has a baby, limit your visit to 10 minutes, call first, and graciously step out when the nurse or others come into the room to care for mom and/or baby. Especially if it's feeding time.)

Moms worry about pumping because they have to go back to work. They worry about making enough milk. Every other phone call I get from moms are questions regarding how to increase their milk supply because they are pumping and not producing enough to keep up with their babies. (Dear Mr. President, we are the only industrialized country that does not offer all moms 12 months of paid maternity leave so that these women can breastfeed their babies for at least one year.)

As I considered writing this, I realized I hadn't written it yet because....you guessed it. I was too busy.

Working full time with 3 kids is, well, sort of a nightmare. I feel like I never get a "day off" and haven't felt really rested since I went full time. I rush to pick them up, rush them to practice, rush to dinner, rush to get baths and bedtimes.....and then I collapse into bed without seeing my husband most days. Without reading my Bible or a good book. Without doing anything that remotely resembles "taking care of myself".

And then I think....time is going so quickly. I am missing so much of the joy of the days by complaining about how busy I am. And I realize that I'm just in the next step of motherhood....the step after nursing babies and chasing toddlers.

I am reminded often of one of the best verses penned by David: "Be still and know that I am God..."

So tonight I'm going to forego doing another load of laundry or mopping the dirty floor. I'm going to pile all the kids into my bed and we're going to watch "Hannah Montana" and I'm going to enjoy every second of it.

Be still...