At some time during our many years of motherhood, it is not unheard of to experience stress and frustration, and sense a wide gap between the vision one had for life as a family and the daily reality of living with children.
Let's take a look at daily life with children.
Do you have reasonable expectations?
Are you asking too much of yourself... striving to be chief, cook, bottle washer, seamstress, handwork expert, woodworker, knitter, crocheter and singer? That is when you are not out planting or harvesting in the garden, or thrifting or blogging? If we hadn't had enough messages to do it all and be it all, social media came along to give us images of what perfection looks like in mothering and family life. Yet we know it's not really like that. We have hard days, hard weeks, hard phases. A typical day may contain moments of joy and frustration for us as well as for our children. And yet we ask so much of ourselves.
Can you be compassionate with yourself?
First, I want to emphasize the hard work you do - everyday - and acknowledge the sacrifice, self discipline and personal growth that comes with running a household. I am so grateful to my mom for her ceaseless enthusiasm and hard work, thank you Mom!
It is far more of an effort than a full time job. It's more like three jobs: cook, housekeeper, nanny or driver, oh maybe four and teacher/guide too, and its compensation is not in such a well recognized and highly regarded form in the outer world. No paycheck, no promotions. No time off.
Often it is at that moment when everything is at what seems like the very worst, that our greatest strides are being made ~ of human growth - for we as parents are growing human beings and our children are helping us grow to be more fully human. It is in those dark moments that truths tend to emerge. With trust and striving we find our way back to the table to clean up one more time.
Warmly,
