Part Three
DIY disaster
Ode to my daughter
My daughter’s room has been through nearly as many changes as she has over the years. From a darling ladybug/bee/butterfly nursery to a pink princess theme to a transitional stage where she began to despise pink and love mint green. It was then, when she was in seventh grade, that we repainted her walls a mint green and gave her bedroom an ocean theme (to honor her love of sea turtles).
Now Kendall is seventeen, and though the mint green walls remain, the ocean wall decor has changed to kawaii posters, photo grids, fairy lights, macrame hangings, and a letter board. About a year ago, we decided to switch out her dark blue patterned curtains for light peach ones, along with a matching throw.
To complete the more sophisticated look, we ordered a large boho pouf ottoman cover. Our plan was to stuff it with the foam beads from two other well-loved pouf ottomans I bought years ago (with their multi-colored stripes, they were too busy for her new, more tranquil aesthetic).
When we arrived home from school one day, we saw the package on the front porch. I grabbed it and took it inside, eager to get started on this super-easy-and-fun update. I told Kendall to get dressed to go to the gym, that I would just transfer the stuffing from the old ottomans into the new one while she got ready.
I set to work. The new ottoman needed to be held up on all four sides so it didn’t collapse in on itself as the beads were rushing into it. But the old ottomans also had to be held, and then cut and poured just so into the new ottoman. My two hands and I were sorely outdone, and I called on Kendall to come to my rescue.
Half dressed in gym clothes, half dressed in school clothes, she came running in. And together, we snipped the old ottomans for easy foam bead flow. We held up two sides of the new ottoman as best we could. We shimmied and squeezed the old ottomans so the beads would come.
And they did! Like ants from an anthill, these teeny tiny freckle-sized foam beads came marching – absolutely pouring, thousands of them. They cascaded into the open parts of the new ottoman, down the sides that were sagging from lack of support. They rolled onto the floor, covered our socks, and they just kept coming.
As careful as we were trying to be, we were making quite a mess, and I am not one for making messes. So I did what I do in stressful situations – I got punchy. I started laughing hysterically (which made the foam beads jiggle and flow even more). Kendall and I started making jokes and losing our minds. And the beads kept coming, each one racing to beat the ones behind it, a competition of chaos, anarchy in miniature.
But we persevered, determined not to be thwarted by inanimate objects. An hour later, we emerged, sweating, covered in foam beads, stepping on foam beads, clutching the remnants of the old ottoman covers in our hands while heaving up the newly stuffed one. Victors. Triumphant in a simple home decor update.
Hear us roar! (Though that’s really the roar of the vacuum you may be hearing. And possibly the crick in my neck, stiff from an hour of sitting and panting and pouring and cleaning up insidious foam beads in their coup to take over the world.)
My super-easy-and-fun DIY update obviously did not go as planned. My expectation was to receive the new one while Kendall was at school, and to stuff it and have it ready to surprise her when she walked into her room. But the experience of us stuffing it (and failing!) together was priceless.
There are so very many things we want as moms. We want to do everything just right. We don’t want to let anyone anywhere ever hurt our precious children. There is so much we want to teach them. There is so much that they absolutely need.
But as I look back on my very personal little collection of Mother’s Day in three parts – my late grandmother, my mother, and one small snippet of my life as a mother – there is a thread that I see. And I am most happy about this little thread. For as many times as I have failed in my quest for motherhood perfection, I can see a tapestry woven over the generations, and the thread that connects it all is joy.
The joy of my grandmother forgetting to stuff the piñata. The joy of my mother and me all decked out like accidental clowns. The joy of Kendall and me as we were nearly outwitted by an army of foam beads gone rogue.
You may have noticed that in each of these stories, things did not go according to plan. They went very badly, indeed. But instead of giving in to defeat, we laughed. We found joy in the midst of life’s little disasters. Beauty in chaos.
She somehow found loveliness everywhere she went – perhaps because she brought so much of it with her.
Perhaps the woman for whom this quote was penned found loveliness everywhere she went because it was in her. Maybe she was just so full of joy that it couldn’t help but overflow to all those around her.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).
Moms lead by example. They teach us to laugh when we may want to cry. Moms leave us overflowing with hope. Paul wrote the following words to Philemon, but I think they are fitting for mothers everywhere, for what do mothers do better than refreshing the hearts of their children?
Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people (Philemon 1:7).
Mother’s Day can be a tough day for many people. Perhaps your mother is no longer here with us, and you miss her most particularly on Mother’s Day. Or maybe you didn’t have a good mother and feel resentful when this day rolls around. You may have chosen not to take the motherhood route for yourself, or perhaps it was out of your hands and you didn’t really get the choice.
Whatever your circumstance, my goal is to encourage you with these three snapshots of motherhood because whether or not you enter into the challenges and joys of mothering for yourself, you still have a lot to give to others in your life. You have the opportunity to bring joy, to influence the lives of those around you – children and adults – in a positive way. You, too, can be a refresher. An encourager. A joy bringer. When things feel empty, ugly, or downright overwhelming, we can choose joy.
For the joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10).
Loved this last story and how you tied it all together with joy! Happy Mothers day, Courtnie!
Thank you, Kim! Happy Mother’s Day to you too!