You know how it is when you're a mom.
Or maybe you don't.
Allow me to paint a picture.
You become a mom. Okay. And you fall totally and completely in love with your new bundle.
You cherish the days that quickly pass on. You write down all the firsts, plus anything else that is even remotely cute (to you)
You light up inside with delight when your little bundle smiles up at you, and oh my goodness, the feeling when you hear their first giggles.... and how you try to keep drawing those giggles out, because it truly is the best sound you've ever heard... like music that plays to your soul.
Even when they poop on you, cry at the top of their lungs, and refuse to sleep at night-- you're just filled with so much love, and there is nothing you wouldn't do, for this bundle.
Fast forward to a few years later......
And then they learn to talk and scream "NO!"
Stick their tongues out. Run away from you when it's time to brush their teeth. They put the cats in the fridge. Think everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is theirs. Bedtime?! pssshhhhttttt.
#3yearoldprobs Can anyone else relate?!!!
They become little sass mouths. Little bundles of chaos and messes and demands.
It's not so easy anymore. You could handle it all before, sleep deprived and running on E, because that bundle couldn't sass you back. He couldn't run away. Didn't destroy the house.
He didn't know our language yet back then, so if something was wrong, he cried. Now, he protests in his underwear, for more pickles, while throwing your pillows off the sofa.
What. the. crap. happened.
That sweet, innocent, needy little bundle needs even more from you now. And it ain't always pretty.
No mom in the world ever truly knows how to handle everything. So don't let anyone fool you into thinking that they have it all together. Motherhood is all about "Fake it til you make it"
Pretend you know what you're doing, until you kinda figure it out. But also know that as soon as you get it mastered, it's on to the next season and each little block of time, is to prepare you for the next.
It's like levels in a video game.
If you have multiple children....you will get the hang of it more and more....but it seems (to me at least) that the lessons are endless, and I will never have it together.
So you know what I do lately instead of crying in the shower about how bad I'm failing?
I just take them to the park.
"I don't have time"
Time is ever fleeting, isn't it.
But we do have time.
Not later, but now. Right now is all that you truly have.
So get your bundle(s) loaded up, and get away from all that is distracting you.
Her giggle is still just as sweet. He still looks at you through the same eyes.
They just need you to see them.
Feel them. Their little hands and faces....hold them and feel them, just as you did when they were new.
Don't sacrifice the purpose, in order to master the details. Don't let the walls of your home, imprison you and keep you tied down to the duties of running it successfully.... don't forget who it is, that you are striving for.
It's easy to forget. Mom-ing is hard. It really is. Even on the good days, it is a very demanding job. Throw in a sassy toddler and/or teenager, errands to be ran, meals to be cooked, all kinds of SHIT TO DO... and
it's so so easy to get lost, and forget. To become frustrated. And feel like a big fat failure when you lay down to sleep.
That's your cue.
When the house is the messiest, everything is falling apart, you can't even pretend to have it together anymore, the kids are the craziest and you are ready to either cry or run away-- this is the very best moment, to step away.... and just go to the park.
Or maybe you don't.
Allow me to paint a picture.
You become a mom. Okay. And you fall totally and completely in love with your new bundle.
You cherish the days that quickly pass on. You write down all the firsts, plus anything else that is even remotely cute (to you)
You light up inside with delight when your little bundle smiles up at you, and oh my goodness, the feeling when you hear their first giggles.... and how you try to keep drawing those giggles out, because it truly is the best sound you've ever heard... like music that plays to your soul.
Even when they poop on you, cry at the top of their lungs, and refuse to sleep at night-- you're just filled with so much love, and there is nothing you wouldn't do, for this bundle.
Fast forward to a few years later......
And then they learn to talk and scream "NO!"
Stick their tongues out. Run away from you when it's time to brush their teeth. They put the cats in the fridge. Think everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is theirs. Bedtime?! pssshhhhttttt.
#3yearoldprobs Can anyone else relate?!!!
They become little sass mouths. Little bundles of chaos and messes and demands.
It's not so easy anymore. You could handle it all before, sleep deprived and running on E, because that bundle couldn't sass you back. He couldn't run away. Didn't destroy the house.
He didn't know our language yet back then, so if something was wrong, he cried. Now, he protests in his underwear, for more pickles, while throwing your pillows off the sofa.
What. the. crap. happened.
That sweet, innocent, needy little bundle needs even more from you now. And it ain't always pretty.
No mom in the world ever truly knows how to handle everything. So don't let anyone fool you into thinking that they have it all together. Motherhood is all about "Fake it til you make it"
Pretend you know what you're doing, until you kinda figure it out. But also know that as soon as you get it mastered, it's on to the next season and each little block of time, is to prepare you for the next.
It's like levels in a video game.
If you have multiple children....you will get the hang of it more and more....but it seems (to me at least) that the lessons are endless, and I will never have it together.
So you know what I do lately instead of crying in the shower about how bad I'm failing?
I just take them to the park.
"I don't have time"
Time is ever fleeting, isn't it.
But we do have time.
Not later, but now. Right now is all that you truly have.
So get your bundle(s) loaded up, and get away from all that is distracting you.
Her giggle is still just as sweet. He still looks at you through the same eyes.
They just need you to see them.
Feel them. Their little hands and faces....hold them and feel them, just as you did when they were new.
Don't sacrifice the purpose, in order to master the details. Don't let the walls of your home, imprison you and keep you tied down to the duties of running it successfully.... don't forget who it is, that you are striving for.
It's easy to forget. Mom-ing is hard. It really is. Even on the good days, it is a very demanding job. Throw in a sassy toddler and/or teenager, errands to be ran, meals to be cooked, all kinds of SHIT TO DO... and
it's so so easy to get lost, and forget. To become frustrated. And feel like a big fat failure when you lay down to sleep.
That's your cue.
When the house is the messiest, everything is falling apart, you can't even pretend to have it together anymore, the kids are the craziest and you are ready to either cry or run away-- this is the very best moment, to step away.... and just go to the park.
Well said!!!! Keep on keepin'on.
ReplyDeleteBest advice ever Laurel!!
ReplyDeleteThank you both so much! It's hard to pull myself away from my "duties" sometimes...but life is so much sweeter, and easier for all of us, when I do. :)
ReplyDelete