MUSIC MONDAY: CELEBRATING MOMS & WOMEN IN GENERAL. ENJOY!

*VIDEO NOTE: PRESS THE PAUSE BUTTON ON THE MUSIC PLAYER ON THE LEFT-HAND BAR OF THE PAGE BEFORE PLAYING THE VIDEO ABOVE.

We women can be awfully hard on ourselves, can't we?

We get caught up in the day-to-day rat race of errands, appointments, car-pooling, car-lines, etc., we scale the daily heights of that never-ending mountain of laundry, dishes and dust in our homes - only to look in the mirror at the end of the day and wonder: "What just happened here? I'm dead tired, look frazzled and worn out, and what did I actually get done? And what does it even matter, because it's ALL gonna be waiting again for me to repeat tomorrow morning -- BRIGHT & EARLY."

I don't know of one woman who hasn't felt these feelings (almost daily) and just simply took a deep breath and kept moving. But there are those times, those moments, when we do look around and see a bigger picture -- a deeper meaning in all the Swiffer pads and Tide boxes, tubes of Neosporin, and cases of juice boxes.

Something we can't fully put our finger on yet somehow we know we really just might be doing something noble here -- amidst the dirty socks and crayon smears...something they don't give awards or raises for, but something that is priceless all the same.

If you happen to find yourself right now in the crazy mix of all I described above, take a couple of minutes to sit, enjoy this song, and in a small, small way, receive your "award" for all you are doing -- possibly going totally "unnoticed". I use quotes there because in reality it is anything but unnoticed.

All you do to instill goodness, character, and life-skills in your children is being noted, absorbed and tucked away for future use by those kiddos.

One day when they're much older (and your mountains of laundry and dishes are but a memory) you'll see something in the way they handle a situation, or speak to another, that makes you proud. You did that. You instilled those values and character in those kids -- it happens slowly, almost imperceptibly -- maybe as you had to correct them on the playground one day, or show them the better way to deal with their playmates and friends, or teach them the value of their meager allowance.

So see, your work today is noble -- and that's putting it mildly, dear lady.

You are changing the world -- with every child you train in moral decency and character to one day go out into the world and make a difference and then raise his/her own family -- you are changing the world 'one little heartbeat at a time' -- one load of laundry, one casserole dish washed, at a time. :)

Happy Mother's Day, blogging moms. YOU ROCK!!

~RUTH~