Punch Toys From Bygone Days

When I was a child there were these toys called punch or bop toys. Usually they were 24 to 36 inches tall and they were made of heavy vinyl. Often they had a picture of a clown on them but not always. The toy was filled with air and then they put some sand in the bottom to make it heavier than the other end. Then you could punch the daylights out of it and it would continually pop back up to the upright position. Now flash forward a few decades.

Recently I have read posts on favorite blogs written by mothers and the horrendous days they have had with their kids. My friend Laura writes about Finger Painting with Ranch. Just the other day I read this one from Vanessa called I Knew Going In. We have all had these experiences~different scenarios but the same feelings of exhaustion, desperation, and discouragement.

Although these things seem funny to the rest of us looking in and also maybe even to these young moms after a good night's sleep or two, I think these experiences speak volumes about the amazing character of these great mothers and women. Now I know the same is true of men. But for today I am just talking about women, motherhood, commitment and love.

Women have an uncanny ability to just keep coming back for more and that is what I was thinking about with regards to the punch toys. For me that visual image of getting knocked over and popping right back up is pretty analogous to what moms do every single day. I believe these types of experiences in addition to all the joyous ones, drive the level of love and commitment deeper and deeper into our character every time we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and keep on going. It takes an incredibly healthy, strong, and loving person to do it and that is one of the reasons I love young moms so much. When I watch our daughters, Jen, Laura, and now Missy, go about their regular days I am totally in awe. They do so much, tirelessly serving their families and working to raise these outstanding little people. I honestly don't know how they do it and I cannot even imagine that I once did it too. That is the beauty of the trials and tribulations of the daily routine...they seem to fade like the memories of labor and delivery. And one day all you remember is the love you feel for your kids and how you don't know where you end and they begin. So take heart, my little sisters~its all good in the long run. One day at a time~you are all amazing!