Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get used to the inconvenient moments of motherhood. There are so many wonderful things about motherhood, but sometimes I ask myself if the inconveniences ever become less surprising. I want to share our most recent inconvenient moment of this week and I hope it gives you some connection and laughter.

I was feeling tired this week (for reasons only a woman can describe) and so I woke up at the last possible moment on this particular day. Once I rolled out of bed, I brushed my teeth and managed to put on a bra. I was sporting some lounge clothes, no makeup and some greasy hair. As I stumbled into the kitchen and opened the fridge, I saw we needed to go to the grocery store. It was what I call a critical grocery run (CGR). We needed everything, all the essentials — bread, milk, eggs— and so much more. It was taking a while to get out the door and into the car because of behavioral issues. I was already exhausted. I didn’t have much of a grocery list, and therefore, had not even planned a single meal. The stress was piling on.

By God’s grace, I got the kids in the car. I know it sounds dramatic, but it felt real. We went off to Aldi. I thought ok I’ll just grab a bunch of food because all food at Aldi is cheap so it’s fine if I don’t have a meal plan, trying to justify anything that helped me feel less stressed. We walked into Aldi, both kids in the cart, sitting next to each other. I had grabbed all the produce I thought we needed, put it in the cart and moved down the aisle to get everything else when I turned my head and saw my daughter in mid-projectile puke. It was all over her and half on her brother. I thought that’s what your brother gets for all those times he took your toys, huh? I just froze for a minute… what do I do? I have no wipes, no extra clothes. We need this food and there’s a mess on the floor. Also, are you sick or did you eat something bad? All these thoughts ran through my head. I decided to leave the mess and wheel the kids up to the front of the store where I could find the one Aldi worker (I’m convinced every Aldi has just one worker, am I right?). I said to the employee “Do you have some wipes because my daughter threw up? Also, clean up on aisle one.” (insert awkward wimpy laugh). They handed me some paper towels and grabbed their walkie talkie to get the employee in the back to do the dirty work. 

I felt bad for a second that they had to clean it up, but then I didn’t, because I realized what I still had to deal with. As I wiped the kids down, I kept thinking if she’s sick then we will all definitely get sick since she threw up on her brother. Even though the thoughts were flooding my mind, I just kept moving. I decided I needed to take her shirt off since it was so wet. There I was racing through the grocery store with my kids covered in puke, with my daughter shirtless in the middle of winter, but with a bow in her hair (keeping it classy). I shoveled the groceries into the cart and ran through the checkout, all the while, my 3 year old proclaiming, “she threw up, she threw up.” I just kept my head down, moving as quickly as I could, knowing people were so confused by a half-dressed kid in the grocery store.

She kept puking on the way home. I tried to ignore the sounds of slush going all over the back seat. I thought with a grimace on my face, my poor girl, she must be feeling so bad and it sounds like I’ll be up to my elbows cleaning up the backseat. I called my husband and he was able to bring home some medicine from the pharmacy. 

I got the kids in the tub and cleaned them up. My daughter threw up 3-4 more times after that. Honestly, I lost track. I noticed I was scratching my chest. I looked down and saw… yep, stress hives. My husband walked in with the medication and I turned to look at him, my hair greasy and glasses fallen down on my nose. We just stopped and laughed for a minute. I was relieved he was able to come and support me. She took her medication and was better from then on. 

I’d like to think God provided me with the inconvenience, that particular day, so I would have a story to share with my other mom friends, cultivating laughter and togetherness as we understand the struggles. I believe he was also helping me cultivate more perseverance. I’ve already lost track of how many times I’ve had to put my head down and just do the next thing that needs to be done for the sake of my kids. It’s such a blessing and a curse that we have that innate, God-given drive for the wellbeing of our children which costs us greatly–aging and wrinkles, physical ailments, emotional burden, and more. Think with me for a moment about how God cursed childbirth after the original sin. In childbirth, sadly, some women die for the sake of bringing new life. Yet, for those that survive, we quickly forget the pains and struggles as soon as we hold that precious baby, and it doesn’t stop there. 

I hope this article brought you laughter, a break from your own troubles, and encouragement that as moms we have what it takes to persevere and that it helps to laugh at the inconvenient moments of motherhood, even if, or perhaps especially if, we feel like crying.