Thursday, June 04, 2015

Just be there

I often sit back and ponder motherhood, as I assume all mothers do.
I have known my whole life that I wanted to me a mother. Other things I'm not always sure about...my career? Well when I was 5 I wanted to be a teacher, when I was 10 I wanted to be a secretary, when I was 15 I wanted to work on my tan, when I was 20 I wanted to cheerlead, and then I landed in accounting and liked it.
But one thing was for certain, I wanted to be a wife and mother. God blessed me with both and I am eternally grateful. I found my best friend and we have 2 incredible girls together. I don't take that for granted, I feel honored and blessed beyond belief.
Motherhood (parenthood in general) has it's challenges. For awhile I felt guilty for being overwhelmed and stressed and impatient. But I'm coming into my own and realizing that is ok. It's more than ok, it's par for the course. I always work toward having more patience and taking it one day at a time, but I allow myself some room to make mistakes, I'm only human after all.
With Bria starting school I began to stress about teaching her everything under the sun and making sure she was involved in all sports at all times. If I didn't, I felt guilty.
However, her principal read something at the last PTC meeting that struck a chord with me and really hit home. The article talked about how the little things mean the most to kids and make the most successful people. Wiping a snotty nose, reading to them before bed, brushing their teeth, comforting them when they are sad...those are the things that count. I felt a small weight lift off my shoulders. I will always try to teach my girls and give them every opportunity I can, but it's more than ok to sometimes just be there. When I'm feeling rundown or tired or unmotivated, it's ok to sit with my girls and just be. No need to be supermom, just be there.
It's a good feeling. Letting some of that guilt go is very freeing. I know I won't ever be able to get rid of the standard "mom guilt" but dammit, I'm not going to let it consume me.
And you shouldn't either. No judgment here, let's allow moms to mom in their way and support them.

2 comments:

Danielle said...

Well said!

LoAnn said...

Great thoughts and so true!!! Keep up the great job you are doing. Being a parent is the toughest job out there but also the most important.