Self-care sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Since your new mom days, you were always told to sleep when the baby sleeps. That kind of seems impossible, right? How the heck am I supposed to get the house up to par if I’m always napping?
If the majority of the house care and childcare is your responsibility, then you start to realize you have a choice. Well, 2 choices…
To all the moms feeling inadequate,
You feel like you’ll never win. You can never make everyone happy, keep the house clean, or you forget to do something from time to time. You’re only one person. And you’re very overwhelmed. Sometimes to the point of tears.
You’ll debate with yourself. “Why can’t I be as good as other moms?” Or “My family’s and my house’s needs are more important than me.” “I don’t deserve ____ if I can’t get anything done first.” (Even after doing said thing all day).
Continue reading “Mom Life (And The Thing No One Talks About)”
Have you ever wondered how large families function? How do they get places on time? How do they feed all those kids? How do they afford it all?
A new YouTube channel, “How We Hudson” has begun a questions series. The family of 9 seems to manage everything so well that people have been asking them how they do it. They took to YouTube and post these endearing videos frequently.
Hey there stay-at-home mom,
I think I know you just a little better than you realize.
I know that those little eyes looking up into your soul is your fuel. I know that you delight in every new milestone that your little one accomplishes! I know that you are filling your memory bank with pictures of sunshine in your sweetie’s hair and the mental recordings of her laughter. “I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life,” you tell yourself.
I know your maternity leave may have never quite ended or that you quit working for various reasons to be home. I know you pour your heart and soul into this job.
Even as your babies grew up, you still couldn’t sleep well through the night. You still have urges to make sure they’re all still breathing and well. You get such little sleep some nights, even though you’re wrecked. You spend all day making mental notes and trying to stay on everyone else’s schedules. You focus on child development, health, nutrition, cleaning, and bills, and some days forget to fill your memory bank. Or do something nice for yourself even.
Regular days you play referee to break up your kid’s fighting. If you’re not breaking up fights, you’re repeating yourself to your kids. “They totally heard me,” you say. And all that can turn into a lot of yelling.
Just a little while before your husband comes home you realize all of your hard work appears to have evaporated into thin air. The nutritional breakfast/lunch is on the dinning room floor, the dishes are stacked high again, the laundry train lost it’s caboose, for every one mess you picked up there’s another 10, the fight you broke up is now back in full swing, and now you’re husband is going to see. So we panic that our husband will think we we’re lazy all day and we stress clean.
You hide the dishes in the dishwasher and clothes in the washer. At some point you just don’t care about the mess any more because you’re tired and defeated. You’ve spent all day feeling isolated, tired, and irritated.
This life is all you now know. And no one told you it’d be so tough!
No one told you that you would feel this pressure to be a good mom, even when no one else is even around. No one told you that you would feel lonely in your own home, surrounded by your minis. No one told you that it’s almost scary to wake up one day and realize you don’t have anywhere to be. No one else that needs you more than your children.
No one told you that you boarded the struggle bus with your own worst critic. You.
I never realized how all of those tough days would sneak up on me and make me feel so small. I never realized the weight of it all until I opened up about it. And I never realized how similar my feelings were to other moms until other people started opening up about it.
Motherhood is the most beautiful thing to happen in your life, but the most demanding. I know it may not seem the way you pictured it. I know it’s full of days when you wish you could work or that you hope the kids would become more independent sooner.
In 7 years time, this is what I learned about motherhood (especially being a Stay-at-home mom):
We do so much around our homes, but it never feels like enough. We always question how we’ve done as a mom. Somehow with how busy we are, it can feel like our lives are somehow incomplete. There is always still more to do.
To those of you wondering if you’re a good mom, or when you will ever even fit into your own schedule-
I once read a simple quote, “you are enough.” It changed my whole thinking and gave me a sense of peace.
Enough with the mom guilt. Enough with believing what people think of us. Enough with not giving ourselves something to look forward to.
You are enough. Start believing it!
Parenthood is so far from easy. And perfection is miles away. It’s hard to own a home (and one that’s always clean), look put together, be on time with the whole family, and have kids that never whine. These are what parents’ dreams are made of!
Social media perceptions can sometimes cause moms to be extra insecure. No one really talks about the struggles.
However, if you use Twitter, you’ll read several relatable, sarcastic, and entertaining tweets about parenting. Instead of questioning what you’re doing wrong in your home, you’ll feel right at home.
Who’s ready for the New Year? What is your resolution? Quit a bad habit, eat healthier, or maybe be more positive? Maybe you simply want more for your family.
We desire to be perfect parents. And at first, we expect it to be a fun little hike in the woods. But as time goes on, parenting turns into this CRAZY obstacle course. Life happens, things are out of our control, and we adjust.
Continue reading “10 Parenting Quotes”
The best way to do anything in life is to surround yourself with positive thoughts. Thoughts of love and happiness. Thoughts of strength and courage.
Many parenting quotes are treasured, but only 8 made it to the top of my list.
