The tasks of motherhood often feel small and unnoticed, but each little moment we spend caring for and nurturing our children weaves together to become a beautiful work of art.
Photos courtesy of Sarah Moan Photography
We exit the store, our flip flops clapping against the hot pavement as I snugly hold onto her little hand. I narrowly escaped the water fountain on the way in, and planned to do the same on the way out. She loves that fountain, but it’s too hot, and besides I’ve got an arm full of groceries to get to the car.
I veer to the left, but I’m not fast enough and she spots it. She pulls me in the other direction, her chubby-little finger pointing the way. It’s cascading water does look enticing, I understand, but we have other things to do today, and did I mention that’s it’s hot?
I pause, wondering if I can offer her a distraction, but my heart gives in and I allow her to lead me over.
“Penny, Mama?” she pleads.
I fish around the bottom of my purse and find a single-shiny penny, then bend down and offer it to her.
“Here you go, babe. Just one, and then we’ve got to go.”
A smile spreads on her face. I tell her to make a wish, and she sends the penny flying into the pool.
A single moment, one tiny penny. It didn’t seem big, and it didn’t seem significant, but neither do many of the moments of motherhood when we’re right there living them.
There are days when the little routines seem crazy-dull. The laundry, the meal planning, the scraped knees and needing whimpers. The constant demands and tasks that make up our days as mothers. So often they feel small. So often they feel unnoticed.
After that day at the water fountain, I found a quote that anchored me in a way that nothing else could do. I purposely secured it to my refrigerator door, and this is what it read:
“I long to accomplish a great and noble task,
But it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks
as if they were great and noble.”
-Helen Keller
I long to accomplish each task of motherhood as if I’m gleefully throwing a tiny penny into a sparkling fountain of water. Making a wish each time I throw. Wishing that I’ll continue to get more and more opportunities to do the small stuff.
- Preparing the daily snacks and meals.
- The cleaning, the shopping, the planning.
- The driving.
- Story after story at bedtime.
- Caring, consoling, and encouraging.
Our efforts are one tiny penny thrown into the fountain of our children’s lives at a time. Slowly, but surely, adding up to become thousands of beautiful efforts–a shining masterpiece, evidence of one thing:
Motherhood Is a Beautiful Work of Art
It’s a collection of golden pennies, tiny threads in a tapestry we’re weaving, brush strokes in a beautiful work of art. A work of art that doesn’t come instantly or easily, but one that is created one loving task at a time.
There’s no way to rush it, no way to compare it, and the world can’t define it. Nothing can match the sacrifice and the small, collective efforts of motherhood.
It IS a beautiful work of art. A work that is sculpting our hearts and shaping the lives of our children.
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Beautifully written! I would love to learn the secret to embracing and loving each mundane moment. I know that I shouldn’t wish it away, because when I stop to think, my kids are growing SO FAST. I love the quote you shared!
I recently had a moment in which I came to the same conclusion. I was walking with my 2 year old and he started dancing to the music in the store. Right there in the store I started dancing with him. It was in that moment, in a crowded store, that I realized I was adding just one small moment to my son’s life. I was giving him joy in dancing to music no matter what anyone else thought of. Those small moments shape our kids, and even our grandchildren when that time comes.