A Blessed Mother
I have been struggling since before Mother's Day to put into words my feelings on motherhood. So many emotions arise when I think of being a mother, what it entails, and how completely I, as a mother, shape the next generation.
There are so many pressures in the world to be a perfect mother, but I find the most pressure comes from myself.
I tend to tell myself that I have to do everything. The house needs to be clean all the time. My children need healthy, well-balanced meals three times a day and their snacks need to have nutritional value. When in public, my children need to behave and I tend to feel embarrassed when they act out or have a meltdown because they are tired.
When bedtime takes an hour and a half, dinner goes uneaten, and I am placing my child in time out for the third time for the same reason, I feel defeated.
Have I failed as a mother? Am I disciplining my child enough? Too much? Do they fear my sometimes short temper? Am I spending enough time one-on-one with each of them? Am I teaching them what they need to know to be a good adult, or will they stray from what my husband and I try to teach them as soon as possible?
These emotions are not unique to me but experienced by mothers all over the world.
At times we are so overwhelmed and exhausted by the goings on in our house that we hide in our closet with a box of tissues and a bag of chocolate. We get touched out, worn out, and burnt out when we don't make time for ourselves. However, when we DO make time for ourselves, we feel guilty.
But, motherhood isn't all overwhelming emotions, extreme exhaustion, and chaos. Many times the good outweighs the bad.
And let me tell you, the good shows itself in so many ways!
* When my daughter comes to me begging me to do her hair like Elsa or Anna (One versus two braids).
* When my eldest son crawls up in my lap with a book and asks if he can read to me.
* When I go to pick up my one-year-old from the church nursery. As soon as he sees me his face lights up, his hands reach out, and he runs across the room and into my arms yelling, "Momma! Momma! Momma! Hi! Hi! Hi!"
* When I watch my children playing happily at a splash pad or playground.
* When my children fall asleep and their soft faces reflect the sweet innocence only found in sleep.
* As I watch my children grow and learn new things.
But the best part of all... when any of my three children come up to me and say, "I love you, Mom!"
There are so many stressful things that accompany being a mother, a parent. But let me tell you the good outweighs the bad every single day of the year.
So when life gets tough, the baby won't stop crying, the dishes are piling up, and you just want to hide in your closet and cry...remember the good.
Being a mother is one of the greatest blessings in life.
There are so many pressures in the world to be a perfect mother, but I find the most pressure comes from myself.
I tend to tell myself that I have to do everything. The house needs to be clean all the time. My children need healthy, well-balanced meals three times a day and their snacks need to have nutritional value. When in public, my children need to behave and I tend to feel embarrassed when they act out or have a meltdown because they are tired.
When bedtime takes an hour and a half, dinner goes uneaten, and I am placing my child in time out for the third time for the same reason, I feel defeated.
Have I failed as a mother? Am I disciplining my child enough? Too much? Do they fear my sometimes short temper? Am I spending enough time one-on-one with each of them? Am I teaching them what they need to know to be a good adult, or will they stray from what my husband and I try to teach them as soon as possible?
These emotions are not unique to me but experienced by mothers all over the world.
At times we are so overwhelmed and exhausted by the goings on in our house that we hide in our closet with a box of tissues and a bag of chocolate. We get touched out, worn out, and burnt out when we don't make time for ourselves. However, when we DO make time for ourselves, we feel guilty.
But, motherhood isn't all overwhelming emotions, extreme exhaustion, and chaos. Many times the good outweighs the bad.
And let me tell you, the good shows itself in so many ways!
* When my daughter comes to me begging me to do her hair like Elsa or Anna (One versus two braids).
* When my eldest son crawls up in my lap with a book and asks if he can read to me.
* When I go to pick up my one-year-old from the church nursery. As soon as he sees me his face lights up, his hands reach out, and he runs across the room and into my arms yelling, "Momma! Momma! Momma! Hi! Hi! Hi!"
* When I watch my children playing happily at a splash pad or playground.
* When my children fall asleep and their soft faces reflect the sweet innocence only found in sleep.
* As I watch my children grow and learn new things.
But the best part of all... when any of my three children come up to me and say, "I love you, Mom!"
There are so many stressful things that accompany being a mother, a parent. But let me tell you the good outweighs the bad every single day of the year.
So when life gets tough, the baby won't stop crying, the dishes are piling up, and you just want to hide in your closet and cry...remember the good.
Being a mother is one of the greatest blessings in life.
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