Babies Ruin So Much

I read a blog the other day entitled, "Babies Ruin Bodies," and it moved me.  It could be the pregnancy hormones but I wept.  It was just beautiful.  You can read it here.  And tonight as I couldn't sleep because of horrible sinus pain I found myself doing dishes, listening to worship music, praying for a dear friend and thinking about how babies ruin so much more than our bodies.

Babies ruin plans.  It's true.  And by babies I also mean toddlers.  Just this weekend I made plans to take Sully to Explore & More Children's Museum.  It was the only thing I planned.  I was looking forward to it.  Then he got sick.  Yucky sick.  More than just a runny nose sick.  Plan ruined.

Then there was the time Ryan and I had finally made plans to have a date night.  And the kid got sick.  Like 104 fever sick.  Plans ruined.  Yes, babies ruin plans.

They also ruin neatly organized cupboards.  I am not gifted organizationally.  More organized than some but definitely wouldn't win any awards, so when I organize something, take the time and really do it, it feels good and I feel proud.  Like the time I organized my tupperware cupboard.  It was beautiful.  Neatly stacked in piles by shape and size.  Lids stacked in a basket.

My toddler clearly had no regard or appreciation for my work.  Can you believe it?  Within minutes it was destroyed and he was happy.

Babies ruin sleep.  This is a well known fact.  Whether you nurse or bottle feed, whether you sleep train or don't.  Babies ruin sleep.  Then they become toddlers and mine sleeps pretty well.  But every once in a while he has an off night.  And it's funny how one off night can throw off days.  Days.  Babies ruin sleep.

They also ruin good, solid conversation.  Have you ever had a conversation with a mom with her baby/toddler in tow?  Before I had kids I would walk away feeling like I had ADD.  Now that I'm a mom I realize what an amazing thing it is that mom's can talk at all while their kids are around.  We mama's adapt!  Babies ruin uninterrupted conversation.  Babies ruin coffee dates.

Babies also ruin Christmas trees, neatly placed mangers under the tree, boxes of tissues left within reach and any sort of toy that has multiple pieces.

And then you have a moment like I had with my Sully the other day.  When I was rocking him before a nap, he pulled his little head off my shoulder, looked me straight in the eye, leaned in and kissed my cheek.  He smiled, kissed my other cheek, then pulled his little body up with all his might and he kissed my forehead and then my nose. He put his head back on my shoulder and I melted.

Puddle on the ground, people.  Yes, babies ruin lots of things.  But when you have one you start to wonder what your purpose was before that little person was in your life.  You start to realize you'll take slobbery kisses from a toddler over an organized drawer or cupboard any day.  Sometimes those moments are few and far between and sometimes they happen one after another and I know that I feel incredibly blessed and incredibly humble.

God entrusted this little life to me.  To me.  And one day when these babies of ours are grown there will be time for beautiful, neatly stacked tupperware and perfectly decorated Christmas trees and mangers that have all the people and animals they are supposed to.

So, if you have a little one, take a moment today to know that this is a season.  Enjoy it.  Let's shift our perspective from seeing what has been ruined to seeing the gift before us- a little life to love, to mold, to nurture and to encourage.