Military mama: Being mother well worth sleep lost

I’ve reached the peak of my twenties, in that I’m in my final year of being able to claim the decade. Though, in all likelihood, I will be celebrating my twenty-ninth birthday over and over again. Age is just a number, but I may just choose to hang out at this specific one for a while. I just have to figure out how I can stop aging yet my kids keep growing. It’s hard to ignore the fact that my oldest is in school full-time these days.

I own a kindergartner. I have such great plans for the time that Kaleb is away at school. After all it is easier to haul around two kids from one location to another, since I have an appropriate number of hands to maintain some semblance of control. How fully are they being realized? Truthfully, the answer is not at all.

I nap. Or more accurately, I intend to nap. I deserve a nap, at least.

When I finally convince my 19-month-old twins that it is a really great idea to close our eyes I’m all but exhausted myself. But if Kaleb gets a nap at kindergarten it’s only fair that mommy gets one at home. I can tell you that I earn every second of that snooze, on the occasion that it actually happens.

Try as I might since they were newborns my twins have battled me on sleeping at the same time.

Each time I see the sunset, I chalk up another day to surviving motherhood. I may lack energy to accomplish all of the many tasks on my to do list. Yet, I somehow manage to get the appropriate burst of enthusiasm at the right times for a much needed tickle match or game of hide and seek.

Yes, I’m getting older and sometimes I wonder where I would be in the world had I not taken this path. But, I quickly shake those silly thoughts from my head because I know without a doubt that my heart is not complete without the munchkins that can add such complications to my adventures. The fun I missed out on could never compare with the love and warmth I feel each time my son tells me, “Mom, you’re the best.” Maybe getting older and watching my kids learn is going to be okay after all.