Motherhood is...NOT about me!

RATS!

I missed the writing project for this month over at MommaBlogga's place. The subject was "Motherhood is/means".
And I can really get into that.

So here's my submission even though the week of writing is over.

MOTHERHOOD is ... Not about me. In fact, it's about everything BUT me. "Self" has nothing to do with motherhood.

It means having a cage with three rodents in it IN my house when I have, in the past, spent a great deal of time trying to KILL said rodent's family members AND we won't even discuss the fact that just looking at one of these beady-eyed little buggers give me the Willies. BIG TIME.

But we have them. Because MG promised them if they kept the room clean for thirty days they could have a rodent in a cage. In their room.

I was thinking hamster. Cute and fuzzy. Not TOO much like a rat.

But they chose mice. And he ponied up the dough.

ERK!

Let me tell you what, though. MG was the one to pick them out of the box by their little freaky tails and drop them in the cage I meticulously snapped together. To make sure there were no holes big enough for a mouse to escape. Where's my caulk?

ANyway. Friday night the cage was tipped over by the cat, who thinks that this looks like a tasty smorgasbord. She hasn't done it again, but she does sit often next to it gazing longingly into the depths. Dreaming...

The other cat doesn't seem to care much. He's kind of a dumb jock and just enjoys waking everyone in the household up at 5am. Between him and #2 - who, by the way, is the reason I am up before 5am - WHO needs an alarm clock?

So I'm using this time to FINALLY get near the computer. And to process a canner load of green beans. Someone gave me a box full yesterday at church. So I broke out the canner. Got 15 quarts! Yeah!

And why am I canning Green beans? Because I get this overwhelming urge to get blisters on my fingers snapping green beans, burn the heck out of my hands on the canner, stress over the pressure climbing to high and jump up and down thirty times for each process to make sure the kitchen doesn't explode???

Hmmmm???

Ummm, no. I don't like green beans that much.

But my kids do. And green beans are good for them.

Why do I wear $3 croc-fakes and a hand-me-down pair of Nikes from Goodwill? Because my kids come first.

I'm not saying this stuff to brag, ya'll. I'm saying it to let any new mommy's or prospective mommy's know that - HEY, once you have kids, it's a brand new day! No more fancy clothes (at least without baby puke stains on the shoulder), no more sleeping in, no more free time. You give up alot to be a Mom.

And it's worth EVERY blessed second!!