I’m cuddled on the couch with three littles who are fighting naps. We’re watching a classic Disney movie and enjoying some much-needed quiet time together. The truth? I’m struggling with this. I’m resisting the overwhelming urge to get up and get things accomplished while they are occupied and not fighting for the first time all day. I need to do the mountain of dishes; you can’t see my love seat under the pile of clothes that need to be folded; the stack of mail still hasn’t learned to open itself; my list never ends.

There’s so much I feel like I need to be doing, but none of it is as important as what I’m doing right now.

I’ve been snappy, impatient, and grumpy with my kids lately. I’m not proud of it one bit and it breaks my heart that I can’t seem to pull myself together, but I’m trying. So I’m going to resist the urge to start checking tasks off my list, and I’m going to let these kids use me as their pillow, and I’m going to stroke their hair and kiss their foreheads and for the next couple of hours ignore the chores. I’ll watch the same movie yet again, and I’ll enjoy their innocent laughs at the same line they’ve heard a thousand times.

The chores will always be there to do. These sweet babes on my lap won’t always be here, though. They won’t always be little and want to use me as their pillow. They won’t bring their favorite blanket and crawl in my lap, nuzzling into my chest and tracing my lips with their little chubby fingers. No, one day they’ll be grown and out of the house and I’ll long for these days. But the chores will still be there. They’ll never end, but the days of being a mom to little ones are fleeting. So I’m going to try harder to resist the urge to complete trivial tasks when the biggest task I’ve been assigned is right here in my face with countless, snotty, slobbery kisses.

Mommas, let’s join together and resist the urge that’s trying to steal our attention and time from our babies. We’ll be glad we did.

*Originally published on Her View From Home