Creating Within Motherhood: A Demonstration of Love
Creating is within motherhood; motherhood is within creating.
When you view creating as a demonstration of love, you realize you can’t have too much of it, and certainly not in motherhood.
My alarm clock blares at 5am on the dot. I wake up groggy and surprised at the incessant beeping, but I shouldn’t be. I’m the one who set the alarm the night before. I internally groan a little as I yawn, stretch, and quietly get out of bed, careful not to disturb my husband.
It’s time to create.
Powered by prayer and coffee, I settle into the couch surrounded by notebooks, my Bible, pens, and my laptop, along with the baby monitor that is thankfully quiet except for the hum of the sound machine.
I begin to write, editing a bit along the way. A word here, a sentence there. I grow a little frustrated as I seem to use the “backspace” key the most, but eventually find my groove.
The monitor comes alive with the sounds of my toddler awakening. I pursue a few more minutes of creating words, weaving thoughts and stories together until I’m somewhat satisfied that it’s at least starting to take the shape of something.
I arm myself with another cup of coffee and make sure my little blue notebook and pen are at the ready. I go and fetch my toddler; now the creativity really begins.
I create breakfast in the form of oatmeal, pouring milk and arranging fruit on a plate to accompany it. We pause and create margin to bow our heads, with a sweet toddler voice saying “Dear Jesus” and “Amen”. I pause to write down an idea in my notebook, to save the thought before it slips away. We clean up the breakfast mess and head out the door for a morning of fun at the local splash pad.
Before I know it, lunch rolls around and I find myself creating shapes out of a grilled cheese sandwich. Nap time follows shortly after and I once again settle into the couch. I set my fingers on the keyboard to create letters into words, words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, and paragraphs into a chapter.
Maybe one day those chapters will turn into a book, if I keep creating from the ground up, starting with letters that turn into words. If I keep using the margins within motherhood it just might add up to seeing my book come to life in physical form.
The baby monitor comes alive again, and I tuck away my laptop in exchange for post-nap snuggles. We transition to playtime after a few cuddly minutes. In an effort to teach my daughter her colors, I create a game of sorting plastic fruit by color, naming each one as we go. She delights in it, her little face lighting up as she proudly names each color with flourish.
Time passes, and it’s time to get back in the kitchen. I create dinner whilst bebopping along to the music from the Moana movie, which my daughter is happily watching in the living room. My creation is nothing fancy: it's a stove-top chicken skillet meal, but it has hope that my toddler might actually eat it. I jot down another sentence in my little blue notebook between stirring, tucking the words away to expand upon later.
My husband gets home and our daughter runs into his open arms. We sit down for dinner and again create margin to bow our heads. To my surprise, my daughter eats my simple dinner creation with minimal coaxing.
I clean up from dinner while my husband takes our daughter for their nightly walk, just the two of them. It creates space for their bonding and my rest. I tidy up the house, prepare for the next day by prepping the coffee maker and packing my husband’s lunch, and settle down once again to write.
The front door opens and my toddler runs to me. We spend a few minutes relishing in what she saw in God’s creation along her walk—a frog, a bunny, flying birds, and some trees!
We help her clean up her toys and start her bedtime routine. In the dim light of her room, I snuggle with her in the nursery chair. A song my mom created for me escapes my lips, as I sing a bedtime song to my sweet girl. I love my baby, I love my baby, I love my baby, Yes I do. Yes I do. The melody is unique to our family, the words simply full of love that now span two generations.
I carry her to her crib, swaying side to side, side to side. As I press one last kiss to her forehead, I whisper one last time, I love you.
As I close the door to her room, love rushes over me as I think to myself, she is my greatest creation. Whatever comes of the letters I turn into words, it will never compare to her.
Creating is within motherhood; motherhood is within creating. They are so interwoven, I’m not sure I could separate them. I wouldn’t want to even if I could. Motherhood is full of so many small moments of creation that they are often overlooked. But to the tiny people on the receiving end of each little moment, it’s everything; it’s moments that shower them with love. Each meal made, boo-boo kissed (real or invisible), game played, story read, and bedtime song sung is a moment we’ve created to show our endless love to our children.
When we create in the margins of motherhood we have the opportunity to stretch our creative wings, giving us the energy to keep creating within our motherhood. What we create in the margins not only serves us, but serves others, too. The cookies baked for a friend in need, the words of encouragement written, the blanket sewn, the flowers sent, the pictures taken—it’s all created as a way to encourage and love one another.
When you view creating as a demonstration of love, you realize you can’t have too much of it, and certainly not in motherhood.
We could all use a little more love and a little more kindness in motherhood, and in the world.
Let’s create it.
