Show Me a Productive Mom

After a very unproductive day, I was looking for an excuse to make myself feel better, and suddenly had a revelation. What if what I often consider "unproductive" is actually kinda IS productive. The general list of productive activities might include:

• cooking
• heavy cleaning
• light cleaning
• paying bills
• doing laundry
• putting away clean clothes
  
• grocery shopping
• organizing
• re-organizing
• sorting out crap from important mail
• working
  
• vacuuming car
• something else I don't ever do but probably should

When none of the above get done, the day is considered to be a waste. But wait a minute? I didn't sit around and watched television or blogged (though God knows I wanted to) all day. Why doesn't

• reading to kids
• building forts
• taking them to the park
• singing songs
• doing crafts
  
• putting a puzzle together
  
• driving across town to take them to the children's museum, the OMSI, the zoo, the community center, the swimming pool or the library
• answering gazillion questions
  
• rocking them to sleep
• holding them after a nap
• playing hide and seek
  
• helping with homework
• breaking up a fight
• disciplining
  
• dealing with a tantrum

count as productive?

It is because at the end of the day, NO signs of accomplishing them are seen. There is nothing to point to and say,
"See, here is what I did today. That took some work!"


And yet, these are the things that in the long run, count the most. Doing the "invisible" things parents do everyday is crucial in bringing up our children to be smart, polite, independent, honest, caring individuals. Why do we often sacrifice the opportunities to plant seeds of these qualities for doing.......housework (?). I am not saying that the activities listed in the beginning of this post aren't important or necessary. What I am saying is what is meant by this cartoon:



Because we are only humans who are raising humans, it is time to shift our perspective and understand that our powers and time are limited. While our kids are under our care, lets be productive with them. Because fifteen years later, our house will still be in need of cleaning and God willing, we'll have a lot of time to do it.