Stand in Awe

Many of you may not know this but I have a sister.  This lady in the picture above is my half-sister.  She is 8 years older than me we may not look alike but we are very much sisters.  I regret that since she moved out when I was about 10, I never really knew her as more than my big sister who I annoyed very well.  When I hit college I began to form a closer relationship with her and now that we are so far apart I would say that we have grown closer together.  I know that our fathers are not the same but she is very much my sister through and through.  I was sitting on my bed just a minute ago enjoying the quiet of my two little ones sleeping and I thought, "I need to go write a blog about my sister!"  You may we wondering why so here you go:

I have been at home without my husband for almost 5 days right now.  Many of you may think a stay at home mom is an easy job but I must say that you would not be more incorrect.  I don't get to leave my work at work.  My job never stops, until they are asleep.  I don't get to think about leaving my students for the weekend cause my job is never over.  I always thought that, like being a teacher, I would set up schedules and routine and then could surf through on autopilot but that is not true.  You never stop fighting the battles and when you accomplish one a new one sneaks up!  I get up and feed my kids meals and snacks, Emma eats 5 times a day and each feeding last 1 hour at least, I put them down for naps, entertain them, wash them, run after them, try to communicate with them, etc.  It is exhausting.  If you don't believe me I encourage you to watch two kids that are under the age of three at one time and I promise you will feel a hint of what life is like.  So, side note:  You should really express appreciation for you mom!

So this blog is not about me needing validation for what I do.  My husband reminds me multiple times a day how he would be dead if he did what I do.  All this is to set the background for what is to come...

Tomorrow afternoon my husband will come home and then he is off work for the summer after Wednesday.  We will return to the states and be surrounded by family who wants to help and love on our kids.  Every day my husband comes home and I breath a sigh of relief because I have another set of hands to help play defense with our kiddos.  He doesn't really have to do much but sit with them and that provides support for me.  I look forward to his returning home because I love him and want to see him and because I am desperate, after dealing with tantrums and little ones who don't want to sleep, for someone  to support me and walk along this journey with me.  This brings me to my whole point:

My sister is a single mom.  She has two great kids who are now beginning the journey into being teenagers.  As I was sitting on my bed, thinking about the joy I will feel when Nathan comes home and provides some relief, it hit me.  My sister (and many other single moms out there) don't get that.  My niece and nephew's father died when they were very young and since then my sister has been a single lady raising them (for almost 10 years).  I know that her family provides help for her periodically and helps out, so I hope no one is offended by this post but I am talking about the day to day.  My sister gets up early and works tons of hours being an amazing waitress and works her tail off to provide for her two kiddos and then she comes home and does life with them.  She gets no break from the intensiveness of life because she's the mom and dad together.  She is bringing home the bacon and nurturing her kids at the same time.

All this rant is to say this:

To my sister, Bracken, you are AMAZING!  I know being a mom is often the job that goes un-thanked but I am telling you thank you for being a good mom and working yourself exhausted to provide for your kids.  I have NO idea how you do it with no permanent, day to day help but I know that you do and I am so in awe.  I stand amazed at all the single moms out there and want to say a huge THANK YOU and WOW for all the work you do alone.  Bracken, I love you and am daily amazed at all you have gone through and your will to keep pressing on.