MY stuff...

I have a super amazing friend who wrote me a little email just yesterday...as I read it, I couldn't help but laugh out loud...I wasn't laughing at her, I was rolling inside because I couldn't count the number of times I had felt the exact same way during my years as Mom.

Her was the jest of her "complaint"...
Nothing is off limits, everyone is into everything all the time, there is no privacy, they are always into my stuff,..  (she said it much more eloquently and precisely than I have, but I think you can visualize this, especially if YOU are the Mom)

Throughout my (almost) 26 years of being the Momma,
I have often wondered if anything really is Mine? 
Do I have MY STUFF? 
Or do I simply think I have stuff that is all mine? 
Hmmmm....Well...here is my conclusion,
when you are the Mom,
nothing (nope, not a single thing) is really all yours. 
I'd like to think so, but nope, not one solitary item is safe from all these kiddos...
not my clothes,
or my makeup,
or my tweezers,
or my favorite pen,
or my shoes,
not my favorite chocolate,
not even the stamps in my drawer that are for mailing bills or invoices ~ they are used as stickers,
not my bed or my pillow,
not my food or my drink,
not my socks ~ I'm certain I did not put those grass-stains & holes there,
lotion gone when I need it,
the shampoo and conditioner from my shower -- nope that's not mine either,
chap stick or lip gloss -- must not really be mine,
jewelry, belts, hair ties,
my car keys,
nothing is safe from those little people ~
They all believe that My stuff is fair game...
Community Property...
Not Mom Property ~
it's really here for the entire world to share.

Aaauuugggghhhhhh -- 

And while we are at it, why don't we just go into the hovering child...they want to be in on every conversation, they usually have a little tid-bit to add here and there, they want to be with you always, they must not realize that they are not adults.  Not so sure what must be going through that little mind???

Sadly, I must admit, I have been found guilty of yelling out ugly little phrases that might sound something like this,
"That is MY Stuff, stay out of it!" 
"No, not the stamps again, those are mine, your stickers are in this drawer!" 
"Where are my tweezers, why do you need them, why do you have to take them, WHY can't YOU put them back?" 
And from the shower, "Where is my conditioner????  OR Shut off the hot water, don't you know I am in the shower and this hot water is MINE?"
"Where is MY paper cutter,
 or MY scissors,
how about MY tape?" 
From my little ones all the way up, I have been heard to say,
"Those are my shoes, why are the covered in MUD?" 
...even to my boys who will grab my flip flops to go run outside and then leave them heaven knows where!"  (Thank goodness everyone has bigger feet now than I do, with the exception of my two little ones...) 
My desk is another one,
it is no longer my desk,
 it has been taken over my the masses! 
I thought I had fixed that little problem and put a nice little table up in MY room,
well, now they all love that space too, and it's MINE!
I don't even have legs that belong to me...my lap is used up most of the time holding little bodies or big bodies
(BUT, I am not even going to complain about this one!  At least they love me and want to sit on top of me!)

Which brings me to my true, deep down feelings about MY STUFF...
and the kids who think MY STUFF is THEIR STUFF! 
IT IS WONDERFUL...
It is a blessing...
I believe it speaks of the safety they feel...HOORAY!!!
It is okay to use all of my stuff or eat or drink all of my stuff, it is okay to mess up all of my stuff and sometimes even lose all of my stuff, because they know I am still gonna love 'em all just the same, because they rank way up at the top of all my stuff!  I may go off in a tyrant sort of way, flipping out that My Stuff isn't the same as it was before, but that's about as bad as it's ever going to get.

Oh and let us not again forget our little hoverers'...
Those adorable little people wish to be with us, they love our company, they must love what we have to say, we need to soak these moments up and treasure them...I know while in the moment of a hovering child, sometimes we feel a little "crowded", BUT we are actually really sweetly blessed ~ they will not always wish to hang around ~ there comes a few years when we don't rank up there quite as we once did...those are the days you'll wish you would have allowed, even encouraged a little more hovering. 

If my kiddos tip-toed around worried about what was okay to touch or do or eat or drink or listen in on; that would be the real problem...(I still wish they'd stay out of my chocolates)... but, I would much rather they felt safe and free to enjoy ALL the good things in life.  (Alright, even my chocolate!)

Soon enough, they'll all be grown and gone;
and then I will walk around wishing those little someones would mess up and move about all the stuff that I now wish I didn't have to call just "MY STUFF".