Keep it Up

So . . . I'm sure like most of you, I hear the words "Wow, you have your hands full" a lot. In fact I can count on hearing it pretty much any time we are in public. But the other day I was in line at the store. Isaac was trying to climb out of the cart, Kyler and Eldon had to be stopped from opening the candy and eating it, and Maggie was starting in on fussy time. A lady behind me said the used line "Wow, you have your hands full." I did my usual response "Yes I do." with a smile of course. Then she went on "My children were really close together too. It's hard at this age but just wait until they are older . . . it gets worse." What? Not what I was expecting or wanting to hear. I paid for my items and headed out to the minivan and proceeded to get all four children buckled in their various car seats. Then I heard "Keep it up Mama, you're doing great, you have beautiful children!" I looked up and saw the same woman from before. And my eyes filled with tears as I cherished that simple phrase "Keep it up you're doing great." It meant a lot to me.
Then a few days ago I had to take Maggie in yet again because of ear infections. As I was leaving the office after an hour of children in a small exam room, Dr. Ching said "it's hard with four children but you are doing a great job." See its small comments like those that I tend to fall back on when the baby is screaming her lungs out, while Isaac is holding onto both of my legs, while Eldon is into something he shouldn't be, and Kyler is asking me a billion questions on the different colors of blood in animals, all while I am making dinner. Moments when I feel like I am at the end of my rope and I can't last another minute, I recall those simple phrases of encouragement and a little prayer in my heart to make it until Travis gets home, and I can keep going.
Then there are other moments that inspire the same results. Such as watching Kyler take a scared Eldon with him by the hand to go down a water slide. And as they reach the top Kyler sits down and gets Eldon positioned in front of him and they go down together. Or when I have my back turned to take a picture of Kyler and turn around to see Eldon protecting Isaac from another kid who has started to tease him. Those moments help when Kyler is teasing Eldon to the point of physical retaliation, while Isaac is caught in the middle throwing punches at both. I can think that they truly do like each other though it may not be evident all the time.
Or there are those funny things that they do that crack me up when I am feeling low. For instance when Kyler kissed me the other day and it was an intense kiss mind you, when it was over he says "That's how they kiss in the movies after they get married." Whew! Or in Sacrament Meeting when Eldon is sitting next to me and starts talking and I try to get him to be quiet by saying things like "You need to be quiet", "Tell me after the prayer", and so on. And then when the prayer is over and I sit him on my lap and whisper in his ear "You shouldn't talk during prayers Eldon." And to have him look up at me and say "But you talked during the prayer." "You're right but I was just telling you to be quiet. We shouldn't talk during the prayers." "But Mom you talked too!" . . . laughing irreverently at this point I just concede. Or when Isaac looks at me and winks and blows me a kiss when he is about to do something he knows he shouldn't. Or when Kyler is teaching Eldon his version of Spanish and Eldon believes it whole heartedly and repeats every word. Or when I ask them who their best friend is and they say each other. Or Maggie with her gigantic grin.
I do have my hands fun but I love it. Really truly as hard as it is all the time I love it. I love the chubby arms around my neck, the whispers in the ear, the random knock, knock jokes, the milestones, the discoveries, the unconditional love. I am trying to treasure the moments and enjoy it while I can, because I know that they wont be little forever.