If you’re a stay at home mom, I’m sure you’ve never struggled with comparison. Right? Haha! Who am I kidding? Comparison leaves no group untouched. And, when it comes to being a stay at home mom, the areas and opportunities for us to compare ourselves, our parenting, and our daily lives to others abound!
I wonder if you can relate to this. See, when I was younger, I had all these ideals for what kind of mom I would be. I was going to make homemade (healthy, of course) snacks for them daily—never would they be subject to processed, pre-packaged snacks. I would wake up early so I could greet them with a smile after I’d finished my 5 mile run, my hour with Jesus, and their freshly made breakfast. . . Need I go on? As you can see, I was going to be this awesome ideal mom.
But do you know what happens?
My children eat granola bars and chips. (Oh, friend. Too many chips.) And what happens, I feel like a failure. I struggle to wake up early and spend a few minutes in the word before the whole house is awake. Freshly made breakfast? Yeah. I feel like someone should give me an award when I’m able to get that accomplished… 3 or 4 times . . . a YEAR!
I’m not the “stay-at-home” mom I thought I would be. But, I’m learning a few things about that “ideal mom” in my head. First of all, she may not have been realistic. I determined what she would/SHOULD be like long before I had children. Now, I understand better the realities. Second: Though there are some areas where I can certainly improve, if I continue to chase this ideal—the “perfect mom in my head”—I’ll never be satisfied.
Truth is, I can spend so much time trying to become a “BETTER” mom that I actually miss the heart of my children and the heart of the Lord.
In my new book, “The Burden of Better,” I talk all about breaking free from this concept of striving to be the “ideal mom.” If any of this resonated with you, I hope you’ll check it out and be encouraged! Order it here!
Learn more here!
Check out my first book, “Compared to Who?” here!
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