Friends, are you getting into the swing of the New Year yet? This week has been a bit of a wake up call for me…literally. I got a little too accustomed to sleeping in until 8:30 over the break, and this 5:00 alarm is kicking my trash. Perhaps you can relate. I am trying to establish new routines that increase my productivity and help me to be a better person, wife, and mother, but I am still trying to figure out what works, and making lots of mistakes in the meantime. If any of you feel the same way about your new resolutions, take a few minutes to read these articles over a cup of your favorite morning beverage…hot cocoa in my case…and remember that perfection is not required in motherhood…or ever. As long as you are taking steps in the right direction, you are going to be just fine.
- The Velveteen Mother “My friends and I, we are warriors. We are growing older alongside our children, learning as much as they are about life and love and who we want to be when we grow up. We’ve faced hard pregnancies and traumatic childbirths, NICU stays and too-short maternity leaves, therapy screenings and devastating diagnoses. We have ended marriages and we have taken the chance to love again. We’ve battled cancer and watched it attack and on occasion take those we love. We fight for our health, running races and accomplishing physical feats we never imagined we could. We are gaining wrinkles and losing our eyesight. We are, in fact, loose in the joints. We feel a little worse for the wear sometimes.‘But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.'”
- The Mom Stays in the Picture “When I see myself in pictures, it makes me wince. I know I am far from alone; I know that many of my friends also avoid the camera.It seems logical. We’re sporting mama bodies and we’re not as young as we used to be. We don’t always have time to blow dry our hair, apply make-up, perhaps even bathe (ducking). The kids are so much cuter than we are; better to just take their pictures, we think. But we really need to make an effort to get in the picture. Our sons need to see how young and beautiful and human their mamas were. Our daughters need to see us vulnerable and open and just being ourselves — women, mamas, people living lives. Avoiding the camera because we don’t like to see our own pictures? How can that be okay?”
- 5 Mom Shaming Trends That Need to Stop Now “I am beyond exhausted listening to all of the mom-shaming going on these days. Yet, I know that I, too, am guilty of it. Newsflash: So are you. At some point, you’ve judged another mom on the playground, or at least on Facebook. As a first-time mom, I’ve come to this simple realization: If you are worried that you’re not a good parent, trust me, that makes you an amazing parent. It’s the parents who don’t worry that we should be worried about. So, take a step back, pat yourself on the back for being awesome, and then walk up to another parent and say, “You’re doing a great job.” No, seriously, do it. We need to start helping and stop shaming each other. You’re a parent — you understand just how hard it can be.”
- Pictures Can Lie “For once, the picture doesn’t lie. It shows a family. A happy family. But not a perfect family.” (Beware, this one is a bit of a tear jerker…but such an important reminder that a photo doesn’t show the whole picture, and that we are all beautifully imperfect.)
Enjoy your weekend, and happy reading!
