Yesterday was a mess of a day around here. I called two different family members in tears as this tired momma wound down her final full day of dad's first business trip. (Plus my first time traveling alone with a little one.) My mom and my sister talked me through some of the harder points of the day and I soaked in strength from their words. Then my sister did something I'm still trying to wrap my head around. She dropped everything in her day with her two kids and drove the 70 miles to my house to spend time with me and Miss Eve. She read stories, she helped me get out for a walk, she brought me coffee, we talked and listened to each other, and she was a mommy in my trench with me. I thought a lot about that phrase, "in the trenches" in reference to mommyhood, and I decided it's a really great analogy for a lot of reasons. Everyone's in basically the same boat as a mom, but most of us feel pretty alone a lot of the time. Working moms, stay-at-home moms, work-from-home moms, young moms, older moms, and moms with part-time careers; it doesn't really make much of a difference, your trench is guaranteed to feel a lot like mine. We enjoy, cherish, and relish the time with our kids, and there we find immeasurable sweetness. Even that is individual. The time I adore with my daughter is mine alone. The times I struggle with a really nasty bonk I blame myself for are also my own. But we're not far from one another, not really as far as it feels. Yesterday, my sister came over to my trench and spent the day there with me, and it was the sweetest gift I can imagine. Cheers to all you coffee-fueled, day-in/day-in out heroes in the parenting trenches, moms and dads alike. You are not alone and your efforts make a difference. #EveleighElliottSong (at Loveland, Colorado)
