The Eye Of The Storm

Friday night I had some friends over.  Just a couple of my mom friends and their kids.  We shared some laughs, the kids were insane -- just a normal Friday night at our house.  One by one the moms went home, the last one leaving around 2am.  All the kids slept over.  Which means that I had 8 kids 10 and under spending the night.  At 4am I finally made the boys turn off the video games and go to bed.  They were all up before 9 Saturday morning.  I seriously do not know where kids get their energy, but I sure would like some.  I needed massive amounts of coffee.  And a few tranquilizer darts.  And a Valium. 

I love being the house that all the kids want to be at.  I love the noise, the laughter, the banging of feet on the stairs, the whole thing.  However, every time we do this, I am also incredibly thankful that we only have 4 kids.  Seriously, I am half nuts most of the time and I am quite certain that 4 more kids of my own would have pushed me over the edge.  It is great to have these kids, that I love like my own, to come and spend time here, but I am also very grateful when they all go home. 

That night while us moms were all sitting around the table, laughing and talking, there was bedlam going on all around us.  It became painfully clear who the moms were who only had one kid.  There were 3 of us:  me, one mom with 2 kids, and 2 moms with one kid each.  The light fixture above us, directly under the playroom, was literally jumping.  I was amused by the way the two moms of only children were freaked out by all of this while me and the other mom were completely oblivious to the noise.  We could tune it out.  The screaming, the banging, the thumping of feet on the stairs -- all of it.  We were able to carry on a conversation while the other 2 moms looked nervous, yelled up to the kids like "Calm down!" or "What's going on??!" 

It was sort of liberating, actually.  Knowing that as "easy" as I often think the moms of just one kid have it day to day, they were all keyed up by the crazy and I was able to completely relax in the midst of all of the noise and chaos....like the eye of the storm.  I think that is an excellent metaphor for a mother; specifically a mother of many.  I tried to compose a poem about mothers as the eye of the storm, but I only completed a little of it and I really needed a nap now after all of the extra kids went home.  I may try to finish it someday, but I'll share what I've done so far:

The Eye Of The Storm

The eye of the storm is a place of refuge

The eye of the storm is calm

The eye of the storm is still in the deluge

The eye of the storm is warm

In the eye of the storm is a place of comfort

In the eye of the storm you rest

The eye of the storm is in the arms of your mother

The embrace of the one who loves you best