There are so many cards stacked against a mom every day. We spend our nights glancing through Pinterest to pin a million things we could never successfully do, even IF we had the time to do it (which we don’t). We constantly compare our kids to every child we meet – And most of the time, ours don’t stack up. If we are working moms, we long to be stay-at-home-moms with “more time on our hands” and MORE TIME WITH OUR KIDS. If we stay at home with our kids, we live in constant fear of criticism of our working counterparts, and wondering if we are missing something by not engaging in our career fields. And when we’re not in fear, we are envious of the moms that get “time to themselves” away from the trenches of mommyland and able to engage in adult conversation. We turn to mommy bloggers for hope, inspiration and empathy when we feel like our real life counterparts are all doing life much better than we are.
I am flawed. I am full of the fear that I’m not doing good enough. I am aware that I am doing the best that I can. I am present when I can be, but actively participating in zoning out from my children when it is mentally necessary for my health (or, if I’m honest, because sometimes FB stalking and Pinterest browsing is mind-numbingly therapeutic. I feel constantly judged by every parenting choice I make – By my peers, by my husband, by our pediatrician, by the lead pediatric nurse at our local ER who considers me a high maintenance over-worrier with an extreme likeness for hospital beds.
I am an imperfectly perfect mom. I make hundreds of mistakes for every ONE thing I get right. I am learning and evolving and changing each day…. And that’s good enough for me!
As a stay at home mom, this is very relatable. I often feel inadequate to the other moms, but then according to my children’s pediatrician, they are ahead of their peers.
I’m so glad you could relate…. So many emotions/ feelings go into this role we call “mom.”
I’m a stay at home mama of 3, and your description is dead on. I often get asked, “When are you going to teach again?” I have begun replying, “I never stopped. My class size and classroom just changed.” Great post. Thanks for sharing. ☺
I love your response! I struggle with knowing how to answer the question, but always think to myself, “WAIT, I NEVER STOPPED!!” I’m totally swiping your answer. Take care!
This is so accurate. I’ve recently moved from being a full time working parent to a full time stay at home mom. For so long I longed to be that “perfect stay at home mom” who does all the laundry right away, my house is always clean, and I’m crafty with my kids for every holiday. I am quickly realizing that stay at home moms are just as busy as working moms and it’s still hard to get all the extra stuff done. Thanks for keeping it real here!
Thanks for your comment. It sounds like we have a LOT in common, and are going along our journeys in similar time. Keep in touch so we can share our parenting misery, er, um, I mean “joys” together!!