Don't Forget the Children

So I've been noticing something troubling in my life, and that is: sometimes I feel so busy, doing all sorts of "important" things, that I forget about my children.

Well, it's not that I forget about them exactly, but I forget how important they are.

It's really quite silly, if you think about it. I'm a stay-at-home-mom, for heavens' sakes. What possibly could I be doing with my time, if I'm not focusing on my kids?

But there are so many things that pull at our time--necessary things (like paying the bills), hobbies (painting walls blue just-for-fun), online friends (do we even know their last names?), trying to make a little "extra cash," that it's easy to become annoyed when our children pull on our time, our hands, our shirts... anything to get our attention.

Then we're snapped back to reality. "Oh yeah, we have KIDS!"

Okay, so I should clarify. Here's NOT what I'm saying: that every moment of every day needs to be 100% focused on your children. That the house can't be quiet for a couple hours every day, so you can concentrate on what ELSE needs to be done. That you can't have hobbies and interests outside of building blocks and dressing dolls and reading Thomas the Train. 

BUT. If you hear your baby crying, and your instant reaction is: "Again?! I'm trying to...!" or you see your son's messy hands, and you think, "Now I have to spend my valuable time washing him?" or a whole host of other ridiculous suggestions, we need to consider...

If we as mothers view our kids as distractions, as interruptions, as nuisances: What is it we are so busy doing anyway?