Rinse and Repeat

I've determined that approximately 99 percent of motherhood is repetition. Thank goodness we only have to go through labor once per child... but even that is just a series of repetitive contractions, getting longer, stronger, and closer together. Then once that baby is out, we start the rigamarole... feed him, clothe him, diaper him, bathe him, put him to sleep.

To be frank,  -- no, that's my father-in-law. He's such a good man, I can't put myself in his league.

So let's put it this way: to be blunt, I struggle with this repetition.

I want something new and different! Something exciting! Some change... some progress... some other activity than just the day-to-day duties.

Unfortunately, and rather ironically, in this Clueless Mama's pursuit away from the mundane, I have taken a long, long, long time to come to respect the built-in blessings of repetition. Being willing to repeat, repeat, repeat, and repeat yet again is the divine program -- and it has purposes that I'm just now coming to appreciate.

First off, these tasks that I have listed (feed, clothe, bathe, etc) are tasks I still do myself as a grown-up. So I should be really good at them, right?!

Well... my hips have red marks on them because my jeans are too tight... wouldn't that be an indication that I don't have the proper feeding down just yet?

Earlier today, I put a nice wool jacket in the give-away bin because it shrunk in the dryer... an indication that I don't quite have perfection in clothing, either.

And yesterday, I finally got a bath after approximately 52 hours since the last time... again, another illustration of how I, at age 37, am far from perfect.   

But I get to try again tomorrow!

I really think that is one of the beauties of the system of repetition. It's merciful, really, that even if I mess up today, those same challenges will lay ahead of me tomorrow, and I can embrace the opportunity to improve! Thank God! (and I'm saying that literally!) And the joy of progress comes through the willingness to repeat the same task but adding new and different elements to make it more exciting.

So nowadays, I'm much better at accepting the repetition as part of my matronly duties. I don't dread it quite like I used to, though I still tire of it now and again. I am coming to recognize and respect repetition as a foundational principle in finding happiness because I can build on it safely so the attempts to add fun won't flop.