It’s Thursday and I’m Crafting my Life! May’s theme is recognizing our innate awesomeness. Because we are awesome.This week I’m talking about how awesome moms are.
Mother’s Day is this weekend. This is, of course, the day that we traditionally give our moms cards and flowers and breakfast in bed. It’s a day filled with sappy poetry and flowery language praising the ideal of motherhood. It’s lovely in its own way, but it doesn’t really do motherhood justice. Not even a little.
A lot of days 10pm rolls around and I feel like I have accomplished nothing that I set out to do. Not a single thing. I didn’t write that blog post or visit the bank or renew my car insurance. The groceries went un-bought and the garden went un-weeded. I feel frustrated, and in a weak moment I take that out on my kids. Perhaps there are even tears. How, pray tell, am I supposed to re-invent my life if I can’t even get the laundry folded? How?!?! It’s a discouraging feeling.
I look around, and the house is a mess. My email inbox is a mess. And I don’t want to deal with any of it. Because, really, in spite of feeling as if I did nothing that day, I haven’t sat down for more than 3 minutes at a stretch. I have been going all day long, even if I’m not sure I’ve gotten anywhere.
Here’s the thing. I may not have done what I set out to do. But every day I do a whole heck of a lot, anyways. I have kept two children clean and fed and healthy. In spite of the mess that lingers, I have cleaned the family room 3 times. I’ve read stories and I’ve pushed swings and I’ve engaged in endless debates about whether or not a coat is required in this weather. I’ve conducted a long internal monologue dealing with whether this battle or that battle is the one I should pick, or both, or neither. I’ve refereed many arguments and eaten a lot of clandestine chocolate.
The path of motherhood does not move in a smooth, forward motion. Not by a long shot. So, if you can get through this with your sanity and sense of humour more or less intact, you’ve accomplished something huge. Not just for your children, but for yourself. Yes, things might take you 4 times as long or get pushed off the bottom of your overflowing to-do list. But you are still a superstar for showing up every day, and you are learning and growing and becoming a better person. Really, you have no choice but to do so.
While I don’t have the free time now that I did before I had kids, I am able to do much more with the time I do have. I can accomplish way more in 15 minutes than I used to be able to accomplish in 2 hours. I am focused and I do not dawdle along the way. Even though, today, I might not always have time to do everything I’d like, I believe that this skill I’m honing will see me in good stead down the road. My kids will get older. They won’t need me as much anymore. They will go to school and cultivate outside interests. And when that day comes, man, I am going to be a force to be reckoned with.
I am awesome, because I am a mom. What about you?
May’s Crafting my Life series is about recognizing our innate awesomeness. On the last Thursday of the month, which just happens to be the 27th, I will include a link up. To participate, write a post on this month’s theme anytime in May, or track down a post you’ve written on the subject sometime in the past, and add yourself to the list. Then read everyone else’s ideas and thoughts and be inspired! Check out the link-ups from January, February and March to get a feel for how it works.
Being a Mom is awesome. Especially after a grueling day, your kid will give you the biggest smile and smooch and it somehow wipes away the crazy day.
Do you watch that show The Middle? Last nights episode was quite funny.
I encourage all mums to write down everything they do in one day – they will be amazed (and it might mean doing everything with a notebook and pen on string round the neck!). I photoblogged for a week on what do i do all day – i’m sure my blog would have collapsed under the weight of image uploads if i’d done it realistically.
It’s so easy to reach 10pm and think that you’ve achieved nothing when in reality you’ve worn so many hats and utilised a million different skill sets.
Mums are most definitely awesome!
LOL at the inbox – it’s one of my bugs…… and I cleared mine down to one page this week!! Oh happiness!
.-= pomomama aka ebbandflo´s last post ..my weekend =-.
Like the theme! Beats negativity and averts the word I hate so much: “positivity.” All I can say is YOUR BLOG is, as the cool kids say, “A hundred kind of awesomeness!”
But seriously, raising grounded, caring, happy kidlets is the number one mom role, and to everyone trying to achieve this aim, I salute you. Oh oh. There it is again … that premature nostalgia. Sniff… soon he won’t want to be carried and held and will stop clinging to me like a pernicious vine. Sniff again…
So true. Moms are awesome. Surviving each day is a big accomplishment in itself. Sometimes I forget that because I compare myself with others who can do more and are more successful. I need to give myself more credit for all the little things I do which don’t get noticed. For instance, the nicely cut and packed food for daycare. My son is always clean and his outfit always matches from head to toe. I pay a lot of attention to details. But that’s just me. Others may be impressed but I am not. I guess I want to be a supermom but I know it’s not possible for me. I’ll settle for just being an awesome mom
Thanks for the post and thanks for the reminder
.-= mommyingaround´s last post ..Part time daycare begins in June =-.
Moms ARE awesome, and we spend far too much of our time stressing about the things we didn’t do, or didn’t do “well enough”, and generally don’t give ourselves credit for the work we do. This morning I’ve been figuring out the logistics of getting The Imp to daycare and myself to UBC for Northern Voice by 9am and it turns out I manage to accomplish an awful lot every morning before most people’s work day even starts.
Thanks for another great post!
.-= Alexis´s last post ..Things That Are True – You Know You’re a Mom When… =-.
Awesome post Amber! Moms are awesome and I’m so glad that I have those three letters beside my name
I salute you for taking such good care of your kiddies. Who cares about a messy house anyways – it’s all about the story telling, playing in the backyard, baking cookies from scratch and cuddling with one another. This is what I tell myself everyday as I walk past the laundry room.
Happy Mother’s Day a few days early.
.-= Cheryl @ Mommy Quit Her Job´s last post ..10 things =-.
To be honest, I don’t feel too awesome today, and it’s only 10am.
.-= Francesca´s last post ..Corner View ~ garden =-.
Motherhood is the hardest things I’ve ever done… and the most rewarding.
.-= Kelly Be A Fun Mum´s last post ..The Best Family Adventure =-.
How about I am awesome, because I am a mom. I'm also really, really, really tired most of the time! Great post Amber. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow where you will rock the Northern Voice house.
I just hope that I can stay awake long enough. It's an early morning to make it from Coquitlam for 8:45!
wow… I feel soooo much better now! Thanks for putting it out there what being a mom to two small children is really like!
Moms are awesome! And being a mom i awesome too.
Waiting in the airport for my flight home. Mother’s Day will be spent playing with the kids and thanking my husband for taking care of them while I was gone for eight days. It was a loooong time.
.-= Lady M´s last post ..This One’s For My Dad =-.
So true. I may have not done what I meant to or anything at all useful, but I still did a lot!
.-= Capital Mom´s last post ..Montreal =-.