Inspiration for Moms

I love people who don't complain.  When I start thinking how tough my life is, I think about the stories I have heard about my great-grandma.  She didn't have baby swings, pacifiers, baby-wipes, or even indoor plumbing.  When she wanted to make dinner, she didn't pull something from the fridge and put it in a microwave.  She went out in the backyard and cut the head off a chicken, skinned it, and proceeded to cook it.  I'm not making this up.  It's a very vivid memory of my Dad's chilldhood.  She also cut several of her fingers off in a combine so when she chased around a chicken with her giant hatchet or knife or whatever it was apparently quite a sight.  My Dad said she never complained and always just moved forward.

The thought of her inspires me.  I like to think about how lucky I am to have all these things like microwaves and breastpumps.  I also love being inspired and I was recently inspired by a great book, "Half Broke Horses" by Jeannette Walls.  The book takes place back in the days of my great-grandma.  The main character in the book never complains and I love her attitude.  Life back then was rough for kids.  At age four, instead of watching Dora and going to pre-school, they were collecting chicken eggs and watching after younger siblings and this book follows the life of a girl from childhood.  The main character lives through the depression and all kinds of things it is hard for us to even imagine.  Yet, she never looks for the negative in her situation.  She just always figures it out and goes on with life.  One of the situations that stuck out the most in my mind is one scene where they must go around and fortify their land when a flood is coming.  She takes her toddlers with her in the car and puts one of them in a carboard box to keep him from sliding around the truck.  I have a hard time even letting my kids stay up past 8pm so this kind of "go with the flow" attitude was revolutionary for me.  I found my own attitude really changing for the better as I read about this magnificent lady.
Jeannette Walls also wrote "The Glass Castle", which is also a great book and was on the bestseller list for a long time.  However, I liked this book better and the bottom line is, if you're looking for some inspiration at the end of a long day, read "Half Broke Horses".

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