Why? Why do we do it to ourselves?
We’re all just moms.
Why do we think (even though we know better) that all the other moms have everything under control, all of the time? Why do we see messes in our own homes and feel badly because the other moms surely never have messes like the ones we have? Or at least not as often as we do? Why do we sometimes feel like a failure when our kids don’t obey…again?
Why do we sometimes feel like we aren’t doing a good enough job? Why do we think that our kids are the only ones who throw fits?
Why does it seem like my children are the only ones who haven’t learned to put their games away before they get out another toy to play with?
Haven’t I trained them well enough? Haven’t I told them the same things over and over again?
Do any of these thoughts go through your head when you and your kids are having a bad day? Do you tend to assume that your kids are the only ones that (fill in the blank)?
As a real mom, I’m here to tell you that there are many times that:
- My kids don’t obey me the first time.
- My floor has toys all over the place (mixed in with dirt and dust bunnies).
- My kids have boogers on the end their fingers and they just don’t seem to know what to do with them.
- Nobody can find matching and/or clean socks.
- My kids would rather not change their clothes.
- My kids want to argue with me.
- My kids fight with each other.
- No one (but me) can see the junk under the dresser that needs to be picked up.
- My bathrooms smell like pee. (C’mon boys…learn to aim already.)
When those things happen, I can second guess myself and the fact that I really am doing a good job with this mothering/homemaking thing God has called me to do.
I can feel like I’m failing at the most important job I’ve been given, second to being my husband’s help meet, but of course sometimes I’m really struggling with that one too.
And I feel like everyone else must be doing a much better job than I am.
And that surely none of the other Christian wives and mothers out there feel this way. Because the other Christian wives and mothers surely never get frustrated or behind on their work or overwhelmed. Because the other Christian wives and mothers are all more organized than I am and probably pray more than I do and train their kids better than I do and have a meek and quiet spirit and always have a gentle answer for their precious little ones.
Yeah…it’s all a lie.
A big fat juicy lie (with a booger on top).
We are not alone.
Our job is a work in progress. Continually. All the time. Forever and ever amen.
The training and the loving and the nurturing and the cleaning and the crying and the praying…it’s continual.
We train and we work and we pray and we just keep doing it. Day after day.
Guess what Moms? That’s what ALL of us are doing. Day after day.
Training children to be like Jesus is the hardest job on this earth. Training them to be like Jesus in the middle of trying to grow to be like Jesus ourselves….
Yeah, Satan doesn’t like that very much.
That’s why he makes it so hard. He doesn’t want to us to succeed.
And he really wants you to think that you are the only one who is struggling.
So, if you are a real mom – the kind that has imperfect children and an imperfect home? The kind that is working really, really hard to train your children to be like Jesus. The kind that has a hard time keeping up with every single thing that needs to be done every single day. The kind that is plugging away and striving to be Godly, but not quite reaching perfection.
The kind of mom that relies continually on the grace of God and on His loving mercy.
Won’t you please join me in acknowledging this battle we’re in together?
I’d love it if all us real moms would please leave a comment here on this post. Even if all you do is sign your name. Or simply say, “Yes, I’m a real mom.”
Or, if you’re really feeling brave – go ahead and tell us about your latest parenting/homemaking struggle. Because we’ve all been there done that (or if we haven’t yet…we probably will tomorrow).
And then the next time any real mom out there is having a bad day or needs a little reassurance –
She can come here to this post and be reminded by the list of all of us other real moms that she is a part of a community of other women doing many of the same things she is doing everyday. And struggling with many of the same things she is struggling with day after day….
And we’ll all know that we are not alone.
From one real mom to another…Thank You.
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Want more peace in your parenting? After 20 years of parenting and learning the hard way about truly trusting God with my four children, I wrote the Prayer Mugs. Please join me in enjoying the true peace that God offers as we raise our children!
[wp_eStore_fancy1 id=25]
Cut a piece of ribbon about 10 inches long.
Fold the ribbon in half.
Push the folded part of the ribbon through a bead.
Pull ribbon through…
…then fold it around the “neck” of the paper clip.
With your needle and thread, stitch the ribbon together.
Ooh. Aah. So pretty. So simple.
