The Greatest Show on Earth!

                 

I once knew someone who was a professional juggler.  He made money, decent money, juggling things.  How absurd!  How totally absurd is it that someone could be good at such an insignificant thing, and make enough money to support a family?!  That is what I used to think, anyways.  

Today, I might judge the juggling career a bit more favorably.  I've discovered that juggling is actually ridiculously hard!   Knowing exactly when to release one ball and catch another takes rhythm and finesse.  How many balls are too much?  There is always a push to add just one more, and the still audiences cry out for more and more excitement.  Flaming torches and sharp objects get thrown into the mix, and just like that, this benign hobby, becomes life threatening.  

Motherhood is like that.  It is all about juggling- babies and groceries and sleepovers and soccer practice and attitudes and screen time and sanity and … (the list goes on, but you probably already know it).   And that’s the problem.  The list.  The "to-do's".  I want to focus on just one ball at a time, but when I do, the flaming torches start hitting the floor. (Or worse, they end up in the hands of my three and four year olds!) 

We have to balance it all!  We try to juggle our children’s emotional needs, our emotional needs, and the whole family's physical needs.  From time to time, we have to overlook the laundry to sit and read to our little ones.  It feeds their spirit and ours!   But, on the other hand, how emotionally healthy can a kid be when they have to go the grocery store in feety pajamas because everything else is dirty?  These are important questions for those of us in the juggling profession.

Tonight my bag of tricks is looking quite small, and my audience it growing increasingly more restless.  So, I will take a deep breath and remember… juggling is the occupation of clowns.  I don’t need to hang my head when I see the chaos around me; that’s the fun of working in the circus!  It’s crazy and active and there are three rings at once!  It’s a time to laugh!  Who cares if a few balls drop here and there.  The circus only comes to town for a short season, and I want to enjoy the show!