I recently read this article titled, "Your Children Want YOU!" on the very popular blog, The Power of Moms. It touched my heart as I felt it related so much to what we mothers often feel a lot of the time: Overwhelmed. Inadequate. Or not good enough.
We live in a world now where social media rules the internet sphere--Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogger, which are great tools for connecting with our loved ones and friends, and getting ideas for all sorts of things--recipes, crafts, home decor, gardening, etc--but are they really all that useful when we start to feel overwhelmed and compare ourselves to others?
I know most of the time when I'm on Pinterest, for example, I feel overwhelmed with things that I would like to do, see someone else doing, or seem like a good idea. But how many of those things do I actually do? Hardly any of them! And then I feel like like a failure because I don't sew my own pillows, I don't make my own door wreaths, and I don't make cute-sy lunches for my kids each day.
This article is a great reminder that what is most important is spending time with our kids. Just being a mom. Our kids don't care about all the fru-fru things. They want US. My kids would probably rather go play baseball in the backyard, read books, or go for a bike ride with me vs. have me make them sandwiches shaped like Mickey Mouse.
My favorite quote from the article is this:
"There’s something deeper going on in family life than can ever be expressed on a social network. Whatever it is we feel we are lacking, can we collectively decide–as deliberate mothers–that we are not going to sit around feeling discouraged about all the things we’re not?
Can we remind each other that it is our uniqueness and love that our children long for? It is our voices. Our smiles. Our jiggly tummies. Of course we want to learn, improve, exercise, cook better, make our homes lovelier, and provide beautiful experiences for our children, but at the end of the day, our children don’t want a discouraged, stressed-out mom who is wishing she were someone else."
The author then posed a question and challenge to ask ourselves when we start feeling overwhelmed, inadequate, or not good enough.
"QUESTION: How do you keep the right perspective on your importance to your family–in the midst of so many ideas and temptations to compare yourself with others?
CHALLENGE: Recognize any tendencies you might have to get wrapped up in discouragement, and set up a regular way to remind yourself that your children want you."
We live in a world now where social media rules the internet sphere--Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogger, which are great tools for connecting with our loved ones and friends, and getting ideas for all sorts of things--recipes, crafts, home decor, gardening, etc--but are they really all that useful when we start to feel overwhelmed and compare ourselves to others?
I know most of the time when I'm on Pinterest, for example, I feel overwhelmed with things that I would like to do, see someone else doing, or seem like a good idea. But how many of those things do I actually do? Hardly any of them! And then I feel like like a failure because I don't sew my own pillows, I don't make my own door wreaths, and I don't make cute-sy lunches for my kids each day.
This article is a great reminder that what is most important is spending time with our kids. Just being a mom. Our kids don't care about all the fru-fru things. They want US. My kids would probably rather go play baseball in the backyard, read books, or go for a bike ride with me vs. have me make them sandwiches shaped like Mickey Mouse.
My favorite quote from the article is this:
"There’s something deeper going on in family life than can ever be expressed on a social network. Whatever it is we feel we are lacking, can we collectively decide–as deliberate mothers–that we are not going to sit around feeling discouraged about all the things we’re not?
Can we remind each other that it is our uniqueness and love that our children long for? It is our voices. Our smiles. Our jiggly tummies. Of course we want to learn, improve, exercise, cook better, make our homes lovelier, and provide beautiful experiences for our children, but at the end of the day, our children don’t want a discouraged, stressed-out mom who is wishing she were someone else."
The author then posed a question and challenge to ask ourselves when we start feeling overwhelmed, inadequate, or not good enough.
"QUESTION: How do you keep the right perspective on your importance to your family–in the midst of so many ideas and temptations to compare yourself with others?
CHALLENGE: Recognize any tendencies you might have to get wrapped up in discouragement, and set up a regular way to remind yourself that your children want you."
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