Thursday, October 30, 2014

I'm a Beautiful Mess, and So Are You

Here is a list of stupid things I've done as of 2:44pm today:
  • Forgot to have my kids pack their lunches for school
  • Miscalculated when I needed to leave for volunteering at my kid's school and showed up late
  • Just remembered I'm in charge of planning a women's conference at church this Sunday
  • Went to pick up books on hold at the library that had already expired and been sent back
  • Ordered a PB&J sandwich off the kids' menu for my peanut-allergic child
Normally I pride myself on being an organized, functional person, but some days I don't feel very confident about that assessment of myself.

This is your brain.
This is your brain on motherhood.
Sometimes it just feels easier to give up on myself and say I'm a forgetful person, a sloppy housekeeper, and a bad mom. 

Here's the thing, though: I could also make a list of everything I've done right today, and it would read like Supermom's resume.

Sometimes I am forgetful and sloppy  but sometimes I'm superhuman in my ability to manage our crazy schedule and keep the house neat (temporarily, for a brief amount of time, for a specific purpose.) 

That's just how life is.

One minute you're basking in a compliment on your parenting skills from an onlooker at the playplace, and the next minute you're serving your daughter food that will kill her at Panera Bread.

(She's fine, by the way.)

Too often, I'm shocked to look around at my current reality and wonder, "Did I just stumble through a wormhole into an alternate reality?" Here I was, feeling like I had the hang of this life thing, and then suddenly realize I forgot 3 important birthdays this week, nobody has clean underwear left, and I was supposed to buy a gourd for my oldest to decorate like a book character for class tomorrow. 

What I take away from my busy, messy, disastrous day so far is that you aren't either on top of things or a total mess. You're both. And that's just what a good mom looks like.

I may not have it all together, but my oldest two children just came home from school happy to see me. My daughter was excited I volunteered in her class. My oldest wants to tell me about her latest favorite book from the library. 

I love my kids.

Life is good.

There just aren't enough hours in the day to be on top of all the things all the time, so be easy on yourself today. Every one of us is a beautiful mess.

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4 comments:

Unknown said...

Insight and understanding over the top on this one. We all feel like this.....just hoping that the scales stay in balance. And then appreciating when the moments do come because they will be gone before you know it....and then life changes in a fundamentally different way.....and you don't get to go back. So appreciate every single minute - the chaotic ones and the brilliant ones and the stupid ones........

Unknown said...

Awww, I love this. Some times our standards and expectations are so high. Fortunately all our children want from us is love.

Thanks for sharing and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop.

Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo

Unknown said...

Beautiful Mess was the MOPS theme for the year the first year that i attended. They have never come up with a theme that was half as good since!

Jenny Evans said...

What a great theme. Aren't we all?