Tuesday, April 5, 2016

A whole lotta nakedness.....

This.

Yea.  Just adorable. 

This is what goes on in my house.  On a daily basis.

Nakedness.

A whole lot of nakedness.

Mostly of the younger variety-thankfully.  No one needs to see the two 40+ adults walking around like this trying to put their feet in a Fisher Price airplane while sitting NAKED on the, more than likely, super dirty wood floors....  Makes me feel a little nauseous just typing it...

But today, especially, the little Taz is refusing to get dressed.  Matter of fact, for the longest time this morning, she walked around with her adorable Frozen underwear, which I'm ok with most days, minus the fact it's 8 degrees outside.  But at what point she decided underwear wasn't necessary today alludes me- she came running into the kitchen, which I was cleaning, yells to get my attention, and almost looks as though she's saying, "Ta-da!"

I stood dumbfounded.  I was cold.  Wearing a thick sweatshirt and sweatpants, I couldn't get past the fact that she wasn't freezing to death.  There is a false sense of warmth coming into the house from the sliding glass door, and it does feel delightful, but I don't think I could even just walk around in my underwear, let alone my birthday suit on this single digit temperature day....In April....

Speaking of nakedness.  As I sit here, listening to classic "Mother Angelica Life" stories, and reflecting on the three year's clothing, or lack of clothing choice, and watching the one year old dig in the trash can..... I have so much to think about and pray about.

Right now, I'm in need of some prayers.  I am having some physical issues, and of course, in true healthcare fashion, I can't see the specialist I need to see until July because it's been four years, so apparently I was booted as a patient.  Go figure.  I don't NEED the specialist for four years (I consider that a good thing....) but I'm punished for being healthy by being booted off their list as a patient.  So now I get to fill out the novel they will mail me and wait three months and hope my pain doesn't kill me before then, or I lose my mind..... Cause you know how pain works.  It's easy to believe you can offer it up and work through it, smiling and saying, "Thank you, Lord, for this amazing pain, that is causing me to not sleep, not feel good, and not function normally..... I will dutifully serve my family with a smile and a nod and know my pain is being offered up for souls in purgatory, or those struggling, or anything...."

It doesn't work like that for me.  I think it's why I've been spending so much time listening to Mother Angelica because she was in pain for most of her life and I keep thinking something will rub off on me and I can tolerate mine a bit better....

But I'm sitting here reflecting on my own "nakedness."  Lord, no, I don't mean my physical nakedness, ain't no one got time for the therapy to recover from that.....

But my ability to just tell it like it is and offer people a glimpse into my own heart, my own mess.  Cause my life is super crazy messy and if you know me, you know, I struggle!!  I struggle, I pray, I struggle and pray but I don't want to be a negative burden on people.  I just want to give those with the same struggles the same hope I have.  That my life, behind my closed door, is just as messy and yucky at times as anyone else's.  Sometimes, I think more!! I have seven times more opportunities to screw kids up, seven times more opportunities to be about as messy as it can get!!

I will say this about it, though.  I've spoken to more people than ever, who have this incredible false sense of what my family is.  They see us march into Church, march into the front pew, and look semi decent as we sit through Mass (they really should see us when someone under the age of 4 decides a 'middle of Mass' temper tantrum is in order...).

But they don't really see us.  I guess that's mostly my fault.  I do try to clean them up and put them in their Sunday best for Mass. It's always been important to me that we dress up for Mass.  They do look dirtier, tattered, and messier during the rest of the week.  None of my children really get new clothing, well, except the 6'1" girl.  No one has hand  me downs for someone that tall anymore in my life- so my kids clothing is not new.  I did order them new Easter outfits this year.  We hadn't done that in a long time and they needed some new dresses and it was fun buying nice clothing. But only the three girls in the middle got brand new dresses.  The younger two had some beautiful hand me downs that looked brand new and my son only got a shirt and tie and my husband got  nothing.... :)  He likes it that way, tho.  Suits haven't been on his list of importance since we moved here six years ago.

Perhaps I should bring some of my "nakedness" to church one day and let people see us for what we really look like.  Here are a few thoughts you can visualize:

Taz will undoubtedly have at least three, maybe four headbands and quite possibly no underwear on, and perhaps no clothing.  Maybe a princess crown if we're all very lucky.

The baby will just be sporting a diaper.  She hasn't ripped the diaper off in a few weeks, so there's a good chance it will stay on for Mass.  Forget shoes and definitely forget socks.  They're the first things to come off in the car....

The  seven year old will come to Mass with her hair looking like we just pulled a robin's nest  out of it and her teeth will have food in them- she brushes her teeth about as often as there is a leap year...

The ten year old is learning  how to groom herself a bit better, but she is getting into this really bad habit of wearing leggings without shirts long enough to cover her toosh- now, before all the "haters gonna hate-leggings ARE pants" ladies start chiming in, leggings wouldn't be called leggings if they were pants.   They're called leggings because they cover the legs, not the arse- ya still need to cover that thang up.  IMO.  Enough said.

The twelve year old, going on 26 will be the most well groomed of them all, but if I told her to come 'as is?'  She'd show up in her sweat pants and sweatshirt and might be sporting shoes, might not.   That's completely up in the air, depending on her mood and if the moon and stars aligned correctly.

The 14 year old is probably the worst.  I know it's because he's a boy, but at what point do boys DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES the importance of cleanliness?   You know, bathe after the smell starts gagging even yourself?  Brush your teeth when you can smell something that resembles a rotting corpse?  Floss the food out of your braces, or wipe the milk mustache off?  That's how he'd show up.  Wearing, of course, a pair of yard jeans (usually 2 sizes too short) and a ratty t-shirt.  His go-to weekend outfit....

The 16 year old would be wearing volleyball clothes.  Shorts and a t-shirt with tennis shoes.  Hair up, and quite possibly looking like she just woke up.

If my husband were to come as is, he'd be sporting something that didn't match.  He does not pick out his own dress clothes and it's a serious matter.  He isn't color blind, that I know of, but he does make me wonder sometimes.   He'd be wearing shorts and a t-shirt that is no less than 20 years old (I don't know if he has many that are newer than that....) Probably his tennis shoes, not tied.  (but he'd still be super cute...)

I would be dressed as I am today.  At least I did get out of PJ's.  I am wearing sweat pants, a sweat shirt I stole from my sister a million years ago from my college alma mater that is literally shredding, and socks.  My hair has one of Taz's headbands she "allowed" me to wear (such a sweet sharer) and there is not a drop of make up on my face.  I only put my contacts in because the sun was so bright I was getting a headache wearing my glasses....

So there you have our nakedness.  All of it.  Would we still be judged as the family that looks  perfect?  Has no issues?  Doesn't worry about the world, or what it will do to our kids?  I hope not.  I might have a few more children than most, but we all wake up, and get out of bed on one side of it or the other, the same way, one leg at a time.... We do things a little different over here, but I like how we do things.   It isn't perfect.  It isn't even close.  Matter of fact, we'd probably shock a few people with our "realness" if they were to come over.... :)  

I hope you have a great rest of the week.  I'm sitting here watching my Taz snooze on my bed. She's just revving herself up for the afternoon chaos I say.  Happy Easter!

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