The Sigh....

Mamas with little ones at home, you know exactly what I am referring to in the title of this post without even reading the text. Around this time of day, many of us do it. I just did it about 13 minutes ago. And I will do it again sometime around 8:32pm this evening....give or take a few.

It's "the sigh."

Perhaps the only sound you have uttered all day that has been audible above the chatter of the tiny voices in your house....which register surprisingly high on the decibel scale for coming out of such teeny tiny little packages. As the bedroom door clicks closed behind you and your stare off down the hallway at the world of possibilities ahead of you, you let out a sigh of relief/happiness/exhaustion....you fill in the blank. But consciously or not, we all do it. Think you don't? Check it out next time you put the last little love in bed for the next hour or two. I think it is like blinking when you sneeze....it is physically impossible not to do it.

It's not that we are so sick of hanging out with our kids that we don't want to see them any more. It's not that we don't love playing Candy Land multiple times in a row...okay, maybe I don't really love that one....seriously, who does? What it is, is mentally exhausting. These little ones have about 53 times more energy than I do and their brains spin about 78 times faster than mine does. I get tired just watching them. I really do....maybe I need to go to the gym more often.

I realize the someday my children will know how to read. And that they are already more technologically savvy than me. So chances are, they will find and read this exact post...like next week. And when they do, they will probably think that I am a terrible person who couldn't wait to put them away in their rooms every afternoon. So very far from the truth. My sigh is a release of all the love and care that I pour into those hours before nap time. The blood, sweat, and tears that I wipe away countless times. Passion is exhausting....and sometimes you just need a break. And it just so happens, that that break comes in the form of nap time each and every afternoon. I love nap time....and I am not afraid to say it.

But someday, they too will "sigh" as their hands release that doorknob on their own childrens' doors.  And never will such a simple sound carry with it such a strong message. A message not of "getting the kids out of my hair for a few hours" but of needing a few hours to recharge your passion so that you can do it all over again when that first sweet "Mama?" comes across the baby monitor.

Say it with me now....."Ahhhhh....."

Now you will have to excuse me. I have about 43 more minute of recharging ahead of me....