A couple of weeks ago, I finally moved in with my husband, which was supposed to be the beginning of a wonderful chapter in our lives. I had no idea that my husband’s 15-year-old son from a previous marriage, named Dave, would prove to be a difficult obstacle to overcome. Though I knew there would be some period of adaptation, I did not expect such an attitude towards my efforts to make the house our cozy place in the form of piles of garbage that Dave, as if on purpose, left scattered throughout the house.
At first, I thought it was a temporary situation, perhaps a teenager’s version of chaos. But days turned into weeks, and the mess only seemed to grow. Empty chip bags, crumpled papers, and discarded clothes adorned every corner of our once-pristine home. It was as if a tornado of teenage negligence had swept through, leaving behind a debris field that would shock even a loving mother.
My comments and requests for cleanliness had no effect on him at all. It was like talking to a wall. I wanted to stop this and somehow decided to act outside the box.
One day, when Dave left for school, I came up with a plan. I was going to defeat this trash invasion, which required a strategy that went beyond mere words. Wandering around the house, armed with trash bags and determination, I picked up every piece of clutter that had settled into our home. I was on a mission to teach Dave a lesson in responsibility.
His room, the center of chaos, was my first target. When I walked in, I was greeted by clothes strewn across the floor, a maze of crumpled papers, and a collection of half-empty soda cans. Without pleasure, but with a feeling of determination, I began to put all the items that were scattered in garbage bags. Papers, cans, his clothes, everything was packed into the bags together. In the end, the room gradually turned from a disaster zone into something resembling order. I packed all the scattered clothes with other trash in a bags.
A similar fate befell the living room, kitchen, and even the bathroom. It was a time-consuming task, but I was sure that if words could not reach him, perhaps these bags would show him how much of a mess he left behind.
My husband had taken this snapshot on my phone while I was asleep, which I discovered when I awoke
Moms are those special creatures who guide us, love us, and would give the world for our well-being. They are often the primary caregivers, providing the first model of emotional behavior for the little ones.
However, while they are always there for their children, moms also go through tough times and sleepless nights.
A woman shared the experience of being a mother and how it drained every atom of her energy, but a single look at her children returned her strength and energy every single time.
She started her story by sharing a photo she found in her phone that her husband took the previous night. It showed her and her young daughter sleeping together. She would usually get mad at someone taking a photo of her while asleep, but this one was special because it spoke of the struggles and the joys of motherhood.
She spoke of not normally washing her hair and keeping it in a bun, and that her clothes are often stained with food and spits, her makeup is nowhere to be found, but this image her husband took would always serve as a reminder of how glamorous parenting really is.
Among the crying, the diapers, and all the mess, there are those tiny eyes that look at you as though you are the center of the world, and those gentle hugs that make you forget of all the troubles.
“I won’t mind the hectic evenings as much as holding and snuggling my infants to sleep. I can feel their little chests breathing in and out as their tiny fingers wrap around my own.”
“The ability to calm my children down with only a hug and a kiss on the forehead will bother me more than the weeping outbursts,” she wrote.
“I would like to reflect on this period in my life.
“I don’t want to forget this phase of parenting, no matter how difficult and stressful it might be.”
Leave a Reply