Raising Schuurmans: Mom Hands

     When I was little, I used to pull a stool up to the sink and "help" my mom wash dishes. I don't know if I ever mentioned it verbally, but I noticed how my mom's hands looked different than mine. She had long, nicely manicured fingernails that she kept in shape herself. My nails were short and cracked from where I was constantly chewing them. She used lotion to keep them soft as soft as she could, but they were noticeably not as smooth as my fresh kid-skin. I could see the veins on top of her hands and there were these, "lines" on her hands that made me wonder where they came from. My Grandmother Bolen's hands were even more worn and I thought it was just something that came with age. I was right, but only partially.
     I had no idea what being a mom does to your hands. My hands are used for so much in a day. From washing bottles to wiping butts (both big and little) my hands see a lot of "dirty" in a day. Cleaning products are used by them to clean our house, I lick my fingers when turning pages in books read to the boys, and they grip smooth leather when driving the boys from one task to another. My hands are used to cook many of our meals, and even though I try to use utensils, my hands inevitably get covered with some substance. My hands are "occasionally" used as the rod in discipline, but more than anything, they're used to comfort and love on all three of my boys. Marcus doesn't hold still often, but when he gets out of the bath and I lotion up his long, slender body, he's as still as can be. Even though he's so big, he still says, "Mama, hold me" in the mornings when he first wakes up, and my mom hands get to pick him up and stroke his sweet brow as he slowly emerges from his sleepy stupor.
     Titus has been sick this week with croup (a deep barking cough that brings difficulty breathing) and I've been pretty much the only thing that has comforted him. In the middle of the night, if he woke up coughing, once finished, I'd give him his pacifier again and he would usually go back to to sleep. But this week, as I would put the palm of my mom hand on his sweet cheek, he would grasp it with both his little hands as if saying, "don't let go." It was so sweet! He's now starting to clap his hands so yet again, my mom hands are used to clap in recognition of his new trick. I'm also using the tips of my fingers to feel inside of his drooly mouth in search of a new tooth because he has GOT to be teething. With the amount of snot and saliva that cover his sweet rosy cheeks, a new tooth will be popping through any day now.
     I write all this to say thank you to not only my mom, but all moms out there who make daily sacrifices of your physical body for your family's needs. Whether you're a working mom, stay-at-home, or some type of combination of the two, it's obvious that you sacrifice your own needs/wants for that of your family.
     I had a friend the other day who commented on an old picture of herself before marriage and children. She said something to the extent that she was, "so skinny" and that was, "a few pounds ago." Her baby isn't yet 7 months old and she's already feeling the pressures of being tiny again. I'm all for physical fitness and proper health, but lets get real. Y'all know that we skip many meals, snack when driving, and don't get proper sleep when you have a little one. Our body is shaped differently, our hands start to get these, "lines," and (at least for me) my hair is changing color. What's up with that???
     So thank you, Mama, for all the sacrifices you made for me and Olivia when growing up. I didn't know or acknowledge it then, but I am now. And thank you, fellow mama, for all you do for your babies. It might go unnoticed now, but we will never get these years back with our babies. Let's make it count.

     And with that said, here are this week's pictures of my sweet babies. :)