If you are a mother and you tell me that every single night you go to bed without thinking of at least one thing you could have done better I am not going to believe you. I also won’t believe you if you say that you have never gone to bed completely exhausted wondering where your energy to fuel tomorrow will come from. There might be a real life Super Mom out there some place that can do it all while keeping a perfectly clean house, perfectly manicured nails all while working from home and homeschooling.
Oh, wait that’s not how all mothers do it? Yeah, that’s right, that is my journey not the journey of every mother. I do not work a 9 to 5 while my kids go to school and sit in aftercare waiting for me to scoop them up, produce dinner, check homework and finish it up with bedtime stories. I respect you and your journey but it is not mine. Even IF you were also the homeschooling mom of one with another two in a brick and mortar school plus ran the same exact kind of business as mine…my journey still would not be yours. I respect you and your journey too but it is not mine.
My journey involves some nights when I go to bed with a dirty kitchen, overflowing laundry, and several nights where I wish I had chosen to read that one bedtime story instead of heading back to my work waiting at my desk. My journey involves trying to co-parent children after a marriage has ended. My journey involves me not always knowing if the choices I am making are the best for me and unfortunately that also means my children, but I always give it my best. Even on the nights when I thought I couldn’t get past one more day of breastfeeding or wondered where did that time I needed to fit my shower in go…I knew I was being authentic to MY journey.
The older I get the more intolerant I become of other people telling me what to do or how to do it. When it comes to parenting I’ve gotten to the point where I even tell my own mother, “I GOT THIS!” The older I get the more I understand that even if we do this motherhood thing in very different ways we should at the very least show one another some respect. It is from this place called respect that I will voice something and make it clear…
FUCK THEM AND WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT HOW YOU ARE RAISING YOUR KIDS!!!!!
So, to my new mom friends, I’ll tell you again: Listen politely as others tell you what you should be doing but do what you know in your heart to be best for your children. As a mother of three, I can also tell you that what works for one of your children might not work for the next and therefore how could anyone but YOU know what is best for YOUR child?
If you are a mother, I respect you and I hope you’ll respect me too or at least show me enough kindness by shutting your mouth about what I should and should not be doing.
