“So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact.
And remember that life’s a great balancing act.”
~ Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Since Monday was Dr. Seuss’s birthday, quotes and images from his many books seem to be popping up everywhere! As I discussed her Cat in the Hat costume with my daughter, I thought about how much incredible wisdom can be found in those quirky books fulls of seemingly silly rhymes.

It’s true that many of the words and phrases that make up Dr. Seuss books are pure nonsense. But just as many offer sage advice for living - and for parenting.

And if ever there was a smart reply to the mommy wars - both those waged with each other and within our hearts - it’s the quote above from one of my very favorite Seuss stories, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Here are the things I’ve learned from these wise words:

Step with care. This morning as I moved one load of laundry to the dryer and another one into the washer, I tried to remember a time when I wasn’t tired. I came up empty. And empty is often how I find myself as a mom - physically, mentally, spiritually. It’s when that happens that I lose all control - of myself, of my home, of my children. I react instead of act. I am inconsistent and illogical. I do the opposite of what Dr. Seuss suggests and stomp about with very little care.

This isn’t because I don’t care, though! It’s because I’m too tired or weary to think through the long-term effects of my decisions and actions. And then I just do something to do something, rather than because my next steps match my values, my boundaries or my plans.

When this happens, I know I have to take a step back before I can step forward again with care. Until I fill up - with rest, with Scripture and prayer, with time away from my children (if only for a couple hours) - I am in no shape to make wise decisions with my family’s big picture or the small.

Once I am a little more rested, a little more full, all of a sudden decisions don’t seem so daunting. Whether it’s a brand of diapers, a career opportunity, a dinner menu or a schooling situation, choices can be made carefully when I’m not running on empty.

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.
~ Psalm 37:23-24

Step with great tact. Oh, yes. THIS. I think sometimes moms - myself included - can get so insecure or unhappy with our own parenting, our own lives that we lash out at others in hopes that if we strike first, they won’t notice our own faults. It’s surprising to me, though, that what I see more often than moms criticizing other moms for doing things badly (although that still happens) is moms who criticize other moms for doing things TOO WELL. As in - she’s just TOO put together, TOO organized, TOO happy. As in - Who does she think she is, showing up at preschool drop-off dressed to the nines?

Come on, friends. Is that really any better? Is rolling our eyes at a fellow parent because her kids never eat fast food or only sing Sunday school songs making anyone feel better? Is it showing the kindness and grace we long for ourselves? Is it loving one another at all?

SIGH. This is a lecture I’m giving myself, I promise. Letting my own insecurities drive me to speak poorly about another mom is never okay. Stepping with tact? Yes, please. This is a lesson I’m still learning!

Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.
~ Proverbs 16:24

Life’s a great balancing act. It sure is! Even though a small part of me still believes that one of these days, I’ll get it all right, I know better. Though on [rare] occasion, a day goes well enough that I feel like Mary Tyler Moore at the end of her theme song, throwing her hat jubilantly in the air as the song belts, “You’re gonna make it after all,” most days are more, “You take the good, you take the bad…”

Whether we’re deciding [again!] where our priorities lie, choosing which opportunities call for a “yes” and which require a “not now,” or simply choosing to call the day a success when the toddler uses the toilet more times than the floor or the tween is more agreeable than argumentative, every season of our lives is a walk on the high wire (and usually with hands full of spinning plates!).

None of us can truly “have it all” on any given day, but perhaps we can look back and realize we had what we needed when we needed it. Perhaps the balance of our days and seasons and lives will even out to be more balanced than we can imagine here and now. And maybe those plates we drop - or those opportunities we turn down - will come back around later, when our hands are a little more free.

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

And because it’s hard to pick one quote without picking them all (like, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.”), here are some more to put on your quote wall:

{Yes, that WAS my silly attempt to rhyme like Dr. Seuss!}

• “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
• “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”
• “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
• “I know it is wet. And the sun is not sunny. But we can have lots of fun that is funny!”
• “Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered.”
• “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.”

What’s YOUR favorite quote from Dr. Seuss?