Brain cells

I have this theory that having kids kills brain cells. It's like using crack. I looked at the side effects of long term cocaine use:


Even aftermonths of abstaining, people who have used cocaine for a long time can have problems thinking, such as memory, attention, problem solving, and use of words. They can also have problems with hand-eye coordination.

 (http://www.netwellness.org/question.cfm/35653.htm)

My crazy brain-cell-suckers at Santa Cruz. :)

 Yep...uh huh...yes, motherhood to a tee. You laugh, but it starts in pregnancy. Remember when you felt like you were losing your mind and your body was being used as a science experiment. Yes, pregnancy is beautiful and an amazing gift of God and a time of bonding with your ever growing baby and belly. BUT, as God is forming that little creation in your innermost parts...I have a feeling that it's a little joke of His to suck some of that "knitting" from your cerebral cortex. I'm not sure if men ever feel this...my husband says "no" and mocks me saying "I feel smarter every day, just ask me a question..". Jerk. (just kidding)

 I've heard MORE than a few women share they've felt this way. I even know of a mom who went in to her doctor after having her third kid convinced she had ADD. Nope, you're just a mom. I remember the days when I felt smart, or rather smarter than I am now and felt like I could keep facts and appointments and such. I finished nursing school and worked two jobs and had little sleep. But you could not prepare me for the balancing of not just mine, but my husbands' and all three kids' schedules. I can completely relate to the mom I mentioned above. Here's one scenario: I may start out doing dishes but then remember I have to quickly move the clothes from the washer to the dryer and while doing this think that it'd be wise to start another load while I'm there...then I remember I need to check the kids' hampers for any other "whites" and while in one of the rooms I see some snack cups left by my youngest who likes to take his snacks "to go"...so I head back into the kitchen to put that in the sink when the dog wants out, break up a fight between my two youngest over which game they are going to play, then my oldest asks for help with his homework. Your brain cells are really going fast now as you realize that this is 3rd grade work and you have NO ideas what he's supposed to do and you pose the questions back at him and he figures it out  and you realize your 8 1/2 year old may quite be smarter than you at this point, it's then that the phone rings and it's my husband wanting me to check for something in his closet that he may have left at home, while in my room and on the phone with him I think that I should be productive and perhaps fold the clean load of clothes laying on my bed....{Pop} There goes another brain cell.

It's bad enough that your body has succumbed to all gravity and you pee when you laugh, but why must my mind go too???

The trend continues. We each have mothers and maybe, like mine you are seeing the repercussions of years of killed brain cells. My mother is amazing and I am so thankful to have her. She is a wonderful mother, grandmother and gives, gives, gives all the time. Though a few weeks ago we were heading into a restaurant and I let my mom know that my sister was already here and saving a table for us and as we walked past the hostess my mother yelled out "Helloooooo", I quickly turned to her and chuckled under my breathe "What ARE you doing?", I nodded at the hosted and said "I'm sorry, we see our party". It freaked me out...had she lost ALL social skills? {POP, POP, POP}...those cells are going fast now.

The great news is we haven't lost our minds...or at least not totally. We are blessed with the jobs "helpmates", teacher, housekeeper, cooks, financial planner (for some), social director, nurse, taxi driver, counselor and home manager .As I've mentioned in my first post, our minds are likened to that of spaghetti and here's why. How could we manage all that otherwise? Some moms are less committed outside the home, some are more organized, some are working full time...and shoot, some have housekeepers. But, in each scenario you can surely see the {POP} happen and when honest, most mothers will tell you they feel so. My encouragement lies in the promise,

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, 

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 

Usually, I'm frazzled feeling the {POP} of brain cells long gone because, I'm trying to do it with my own strength and resources.  The Word reminded me  that God's power and presence can be made known in the life of my children if ONLY I would stop making it about what "I" can do and more about what "HE" is doing. 

I may still lose brain cells as the years go on for that is life and we are dying a bit each day in these earthly bodies, but hopefully it'll only make me more entertaining for my children when I am older. And I pray that I will reflect God in ALL things and rely on HIM and pray, pray, pray for my kids. 

Wise words from my mom:

"You are the perfect mom for your kids and God knew what He was doing when HE made you their mommy." (during a hard day when I felt like I was failing)

"God was the perfect parent and even Adam and Eve rebelled." (Lesson in choice...our children are not robots, they are sinful humans. Raise them as God would have you and pray that they will choose Him too. Their successes and failures are not necessarily related to what you did, but what they chose.)