Every day, mothers have to deal with a lot of different problems. They don’t have it easy because they have to clean sticky hands and faces, do piles of laundry, feed the kids and get them ready for school, and do a lot of other things over and over again throughout the day.
No matter how hard they try to get everything done, they always end up with a mess, like milk on the floor, toys everywhere that you’re likely to step on, and spills everywhere. Not many moms can afford to take a quick shower before bed or take some time for themselves.
Heather Duckworth, a mother who has been through all of these challenges and joys, recently wrote a touching blog post about the things we take for granted while raising our children. All the mistakes they make are a natural part of growing up in front of our eyes and becoming the people we’ve always wanted them to be. So, no matter how hard or impossible it seems, we have to try to find joy in the mistakes our kids make, because one day, those messes will be the best way for them to remember the childhood we gave them. Unfortunately, there are women who don’t have children and don’t get to experience the chaos and mess that comes with them. There are also parents who have lost their little rascal and now see those piles as a memory of the child who once made their lives whole.
Many moms and moms-to-be were moved by Heather’s “The Blue Stain” story, which has been shared millions of times.
Heather’s heart started to flutter as she scrubbed the slime out of the grout that her daughter had made. She thought back to the mess she had to clean up “years ago.
This mother of two-year-old triplets and a four-year-old” older brother spent most of her days chasing her kids, picking up their toys, and making sure no one got hurt in the piles of laundry she couldn’t do that day because she had so many other things to do. She says, “My hands were full, but so was my heart.”
Before going to bed that night, Heather and her boys danced to the music coming from the radio while putting away the toys. No one thought that would be the last time they had so much fun for a while.
Just as she thought the boys were going to sleep and she could get some rest, she heard one of them say, “Uh-oh.” That’s when she saw the big blue stain that she’ll never forget. One of the triplets was holding a pen, which blew up in his hand and sprayed ink everywhere. The little boy’s hands, face, and clothes were all bright blue, which made him look like a smurf. When Heather saw this, she got angry and felt like she had failed as a mother. She wasn’t mad at her son, but she felt bad that she had put the pen where the kids could reach it. She gave in to how she felt.
“”I gasped when I saw blue splatters all over the floor and a thick pool of ink sinking into” “our brand-new carpet. I quickly yelled for my husband, who had been doing the dishes, to come help me. As soon as I” picked up “my son and took him to the bathroom to clean him up”, I felt so bad. Meanwhile, “my husband started scrubbing the bright blue spots out of our carpet”.
The stain couldn’t be removed from the brand-new carpet, and Heather would feel frustrated and angry every time she saw that spot. The mark reminded her of all the wonderful times she had with her boys until the day she got rid of it.
The boy who made the blue stain on their carpet “was diagnosed with cancer just one month later. Two years” later, he died, leaving the stain to remind his family of the time they spent together.
“It was still there, and now it made me think of my son all the time. It was a steady reminder of how upset I was about something so small and unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
That blue stain was a steady reminder that life is messy, but that is what makes it worth living. Always a lesson to not worry about the little things. A steady reminder that people are more important than things. A constant warning that things can go wrong. A constant warning to let go of the little things and hold on tight to what’s important.”
She tried to hide that bright blue spot under the furniture, but every time she cleaned the room, it stood out and reminded her of her pain and loss.
Heather’s story shows us that we often “take things for granted and forget to enjoy the little things that make us” who we are. She wants to tell all the moms out there that the piles of clothes and toys are what make the house a home. These mistakes are made by the most important people in our lives. Heather calls them “a blessing in disguise” because they make our lives worth living. There will come a time when we will miss those times very much. “I would have a million blue ink stains on my carpet if it meant I could spend one more day with my son.”
Her message to the moms is that they shouldn’t let themselves get caught up in what’s going on around them, because then they wouldn’t be able to enjoy the time they have with their kids. Focus on what’s important, because life is too short to waste time rubbing spots.