I see you, Momma

I see you momma.

I see you the week before school starts back wondering how it can be that yesterday it was the last day of school & somehow, already, the entire summer has come crashing into right now.

I see you with your unfinished lists of things to do.

I see your vacation memories that didn’t line up with your planned itinerary; with teenagers that refused to have their pictures made with you & toddlers that screamed during every potentially relaxing moment & everything costing more than expected. every. single. thing.

I see you stay-at-home momma. I see your living room scattered with toys & your sink full of dishes & your fridge door full of magnetized summer fun ideas. I see you worried that next week you’ll be standing in the driveway staring at the back end of a school bus, wishing for another day to let your littles sleep late & wear mismatched clothes & walk around with unkempt hair.

I see you paycheck-earning momma. I see you with a time card punched full of work hours & void of free time. I see you longing for missed pool hours & rare snuggle time & bygone opportunities.

I see you making Instagram & Facebook your summer fun gauge; I see you giving a thumbs up and a cute red heart to things you wish you had done; places you wish you had gone.

I hear what you don’t say about what didn’t go as planned; the places you meant to go…you so longed to go…you promised to go.

I get it.

There just was not enough time.

The days were short & the lists were long.

The schedule was tight & the money was tighter.

I know you made the plans & you intended to use the plans & you had a heart full of good intentions that somehow collided headlong into obligations & commitments & responsibilities.

I feel your struggle.

Here’s the thing, sweet momma:

The summer you had was only yours to have.

What your family wanted & needed was, and is, and always will be simple enough: it’s you.

The way you laugh at their jokes & kiss their foreheads & hug their worries away…that is what makes them ready to face next week.

Whether you hugged them on a beach far away or in your kitchen right at home…

Whether you packed up the car & traveled to an exotic destination or you camped out in the back yard…

Whether you had every day free or worked 40 hours a week, no one could, or will ever be, the you that you can be.

It was all good enough & fulfilling enough & life-sustaining enough. Your people will always be your people. They will always need what only you can provide & it will always be enough.

Let go of the expectations you think this world has of you and recognize that no one can contribute what you can. You are uniquely capable of giving love & being loved; of fulfilling others & of being fulfilled.

Your summer was everything it needed to be.

And, if not, there is always next summer.

And so there is that…