Let’s Start with Gross
See all those clothes? Those are my daughter’s clothes. They look pretty clean, right? Well, those clothes were from one day. One day! And the day wasn’t even over. And they ALL had poop blowouts on them. Two pairs of pjs, one three-piece outfit and one two-piece outfit.
How much time did I spend cleaning those out with soap and water? I can’t remember. But a lot.
I’ve been thankful many times over for the advice I was given before my son was born. A white bar of soap is fantastic for getting breast milk poop out of clothes. Especially white ones! It’s true. I’ve used almost two full bars of Dove soap between both of my kids. Fun times.
In the middle of those times, when I’m cleaning poop out of baby clothes for the umpteenth time, it can get frustrating. Really frustrating. I’m tired. My hands are dry and cracking from being wet so much. I have plenty of other and better things to do and now I get more laundry and more changing clothes.
Why does my job title of Mom have to come with cleaning poop out of clothes again? How does this enhance my life? Is this really part of my purpose? Maybe I can put Master Baby Poop Cleaner on my resume in the future. That’ll bring in a solid job.
I don’t know if I can answer most of those except for the one about purpose. Yes, it is part of the purpose of Motherhood.
And you know what? It matters.
It may not feel like it. It may not seem like it. No one else may know about it or be able to express their appreciation for you doing that part of the job. Not even your kids who created the mess in the first place.
But service done in the quiet. Sacrifice given in the secret place. A willing and grateful attitude in the hiddenness of the heart. It really is seen. And it’s seen by the most important person who could see it. Our Lord and Savior. He sees you. He sees your hard work. He sees the mundane tasks you do on a daily basis, including the ones that once done, only have to get done again, over and over and over.
Matthew 6 has a phrase that is repeated several times in the context of prayer and service done in secret,
“And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
It matters. “It” could mean anything you do behind the scenes to keep your household running and your family healthy. Every load of wash you run. Every piece of laundry you fold. Every trip to the grocery store. Every list you carefully think through and make. Every meal and piece of food you prepare. Every floor or mirror or toilet and piece of wet or dirty clothing you clean. Every minute of research you put in to find the best practices and best products for the best prices for the health of your family. Etc.
It all matters. And not in the sense where it can sound like you better be doing all of these things or else you’re a bad mom. Not at all. It matters in the sense where when you have those days where you’re unmotivated, dressed in your pjs, have messy hair and no makeup on, and wonder if you will ever see the bigger and brighter world again and be able to contribute to it, or when you have one of those days where you’re at your job and wanting to be with your kids more, feeling guilty for putting your kids in daycare and hiring someone else to clean your home instead of doing it yourself, and wondering if you’re even making a difference at your job, you still have value and purpose in those days and moments!
You are taking care of your family. You are helping keep your household running no matter how you do it. It is your service to your family. It is your act of worship to the Lord who has given you a family to care for. Even if you don’t enjoy it and force yourself to do what needs to be done at times, it shows you value your family. You value them being taken care of. That, my friend, matters.
So the next time you clean up poop, pee, vomit, spit up or any other bodily fluid that can come out, within your mind and heart, remember that no matter how gross it is, how long it takes to clean or what better things you could be getting done, there truly is meaningful purpose in cleaning it up.
The win: Learning and realizing that even the smallest and most mundane or grossest tasks that nobody sees you do, like cleaning up spilled milk on the floor or poop out of baby clothes, holds invaluable purpose.