It’s 7:00 in the morning and you’re rushing to get the kids ready for school or daycare. Your toddler is throwing a fit on the floor and your preschooler is distracted while attempting to eat breakfast. You check your phone again to make sure you’ll still make it to work on time but you’re cutting it close. You snap at your kids to move a bit faster, then immediately feel guilty for yelling. Finally they’re ready, but as you’re buckling them into the car you realize you’ve forgotten their lunches.
Sound familiar?
Every mom has these days. It doesn’t matter if there is one child or four children, toddlers or teenagers, or if they are home-schooled or attend public school. Hard, stressful days are unavoidable. It can be discouraging. It can feel defeating. Somehow, though, mothers manage to make it through the days, the weeks, and the years.
Amidst the chaos, moms forget that children are only children for a few years. The days are long, but the years are short. At each birthday, a mother wonders where the time went. At their preschool graduation, memories flood from when they were little babies. Suddenly, they’re graduating high school and floods of emotions pour out as these seemingly small children move on to their own chapter of life. Then, as if it happened suddenly, they’re adults living their own life.
Celebrations in Motherhood
Motherhood is hard. Society pushes this misconception that motherhood is a picture perfect dream: a shower every day, flawless make-up and well done hair, a pre-pregnancy body, home cooked meals, and a clean house. The truth is, society needs to start celebrating the changes that come with parenthood. Rather than striving for perfection, a mother should strive to be the mother her children need.
Children don’t need perfection, they need to know that someone loves them. They need someone who teaches how to learn from mistakes, not pretend to be mistake free.
Whether it’s an inconsolable newborn, a defiant toddler, or an unmotivated teen, each season brings about its own challenges. 
Mothers needs to remember that the challenging seasons will pass. It is just as important to remember that throughout these challenges, there are times to rejoice and celebrate. The newborn stage brings with it close snuggles, exciting milestones, and many “firsts.” The toddler stage brings with it new words, new accomplishments, and so much silliness and laughter. The school-age years usher in times of new friends, new schools, and the magic of watching a child discover their own interests.
Positive Reminders
Mothers will hear everything they should do and endless opinions on how to raise your kids. There’s pressure to cook perfect meals, limit sugar, restrict screen time, shout less, discipline more, take them outside, let them stay in, the list seems unending. From the outside, parents hear what they should be doing, but what matters is what a mother tells herself.
Push away the world’s voice and listen to the inner voice.
Mothers need to be the mother their child needs. On days when families are rushed out the door, when guilt is swelling, or when defeat creeps in at the end of the day, remember:
- You are the best mom for your children
- You are enough
- It is okay to take care of you first
- It is okay to ask for help
- Your children don’t want you to be perfect, they want you to be you
- Good moms have bad days
- Do what you can and do not worry about what you cannot
- You are a bless to your children
- You are doing an amazing job
There will be moments where you will have to give yourself encouragement. Reminders from within that you are doing a good job are the most important reminders a mother can get. Motherhood can be a difficult journey, but it has beautiful moments along the way and everyone is making the journey as well as they can.
“There’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one.” -Jill Churchill
How do you remind yourself that you are a good mom?
