Honest About Motherhood

• Mommy 1: "OMG!  My kids are driving me CRAZY! What about you? What's the WORST part about being a mom?" 
• Mommy 2: "Oh, there's nothing that bad.  It's all a blessing!"
• Mommy 1: "What?  C'mon, really?"
• Mommy 2: *pauses to think*  "Well, I don't know.  Nothing that I can really think of off-hand.  I just rely on God to get me through"
• Mommy 1: *internally screaming to self - "What do you mean, there's nothing you can think     of?"*  . . . . . finally says out loud to Mommy 2, "Oh, well that's good."

Ever have a similar conversation with a mom like this where it seemed everyday was filled with butterflies, rainbows, homeschooling, bible stories, organic food, hugs/kisses, singing, etc. . . . . and dare I say - unicorns??  I came across a great blog posting titled, "It Doesn't Help Anyone To Not Be Honest About Motherhood" by blogger Sarah Mae.  Her beginning paragraph struck a chord with me:

"I remember a few years ago when I was having a really hard time with the day to day of life. I had two little ones and was pregnant. I felt very lonely, I was overwhelmed, and I suffered from tremendous guilt that I wasn’t doing enough or being a good enough wife, mother, or homemaker."

It struck a chord because after having our oldest three kids approximately 4.5 - 5 years apart, I too find myself in the "Two Littles and One On the Way" phase as I persevere through the last trimester with baby #5.   Do I feel lonely?  At times.  Am I overwhelmed?  Yes - more often than I'd like to admit.  Do I carry a baggage of guilt through my day?  Undoubtedly - YES!  There is always something I didn't get to, a request I delay, A bible that collects dust, playtime that is missed, time that it lost.  All things that, when I'm honest, make me uncomfortable.

It can become far too easy in searching for answers from other moms to become even more discouraged.  Please don't misunderstand my above Mommy conversation example.  Relying on God, homeschooling, organic, etc. are not bad.  But I believe when we take those aspects through our day, sugarcoat a bit then dispense to other moms without the reality of being sinful, human and making mistakes, it can be damaging as well as discouraging.  Though there are many great 'mommy' blogs and no shortage of moms willing to offer advice - we must be careful to filter what is truly helpful vs. adding their judgement/condescending suggestion in with our already hot mess of a moment.  Because that's what it is - a moment.  It's only a season and will pass. . . . or at least that's what I keep telling myself as I squint my eyes through the storm and repeat mantra, repeat mantra, repeat mantra!! 

During Jesus' ministry, he knew what fate lay ahead and when talking to his disciples he made sure to be honest about what was to come.

*Matthew 16:21*
From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.


*Matthew 17:22-23*
After they gathered again in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” And the disciples were filled with grief.

*Matthew 20:17-18* 
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to him. “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die.


See, Jesus didn't sugarcoat the truth!  He didn't tell his disciples, "Hey dudes - look, see I have somewhere to go and, um, I'll be back to hang out in like 3 days.  OK?"  NO!  He knew his mission.  He knew how it would affect others, how they needed to prepare and he layed it out there.  No questions, no guilt, no lies.  You know how I think he did it?  First, submission to the Father - that's a given!  But also because he was first honest with himself.  He didn't have to sugarcoat because he was confident in the mission set before him.  He knew what he had to do and the importance of it.  There was no need to lie to himself or others. 

But what about me??  Or what about you??  Here's some more for thought . . . . Do we even know our mission in motherhood? If so, do we accept it?  If we embellish, is it because we don't want someone else to feel uncomfortable by our raw feelings or is it our own discomfort/feelings of inadequacy that we dislike and try to hide through walls of a smile or 'I'm doing great!' answers??   

We have to be honest with ourselves first.  Does motherhood suck sometimes.  Yes!  But do the bad days diminish the good days/moments that God has placed before us?  Definitely NO!  And hopefully through that honesty, intimacy can lead others struggling with the same plight to reach out and help pull us out of the drowning pool we know as 24/7 Everyday life. . . . .
. . . . or better yet, we can be the encourager that another mother needs to get through those tough seasons of life.  :)


**Linked To: Raising Arrows, The Straightened Path, The Better Mom

The Nattie Bear Strikes!

Do you see this face??  Looks like an angel, right??  Well, don't let that smile fool you!! 

*YAWN* . . . . so it was a rough night with Miss Nattie Bear.  I don't know if it was the excitement getting out the house and meeting with our church group, the excitement of the extra kids/people at group, her teeth bothering her OR any other number of possibilities.  Did anyone notice if it was a full moon by chance??  Whatever it was, that little girl instilled a fear in her daddy and I that we haven't had in I don't know how long.  We were totally at her mercy.  It was one of those moments. . . that happened to last for several hours. . . where she was crying off/on, fidgety, very fussy, crying some more, yelling. . . . . BTW, she did not have a fever which just added to us being perplexed by her behavior.  Also, this was during the late evening when we have 3 other kids that were sleeping - two of which had to get up at 6:30am for school.  *YAWN*

Not from last night - but a glimpse of her feist, nonetheless!

It finally ended at 12:30am-ish when Shawn took her, gently put her in the car seat, heated up the car and then drove her around for a little bit until she fell asleep.  AMEN!!  PRAISE GOD!!  HALLELUJAH!!  Despite the stress, concern, and chaos, S-Money$ was my hero last night!  Insisting on staying up with me to help with Nattie Bear, despite my adamant effort to do it alone so he could rest before having to get up for work.  Makes me so thankful for a loving, helpful husband!  I surely couldn't do this alone that's for sure. <3

Needless to say, we were too afraid to move her out of the carseat when S-Money$ brought her back - for fear we would wake her and start the vicious cycle all over again.  So she slept in her carseat, bundled up in our room close by.  She awoke at 5:30am all smiles.  Blissfully unaware of the earlier night's happenings.  Ahhh, the life of a baby!!!  *wink*

Praying for a bit more ZZZZZ's tonight for ALL of us! . . . . . and for any of you who are also a bit sleep deprived on this Monday morning.  :)

**this post linked to:

When Little Kids Help

When your help around the house during the day consists of Littles - aka: Toddler and 8-month old in our house - then you could just be getting more mess and a little less clean.  *wink*

Makes for an interesting day since you never know what you may get, LOL!  But there are those other moments, the priceless ones you need to capture for memories to come, where your Little comes through.  He/She gets it!!  They did it!!  Yeah!!  (insert applause/praise/smiles)

Though I'd like to attribute those moments of success to my awesome & stellar parenting. . . . . sadly, I cannot!  It is not because I am good, but because God is good and gives me those pocket moments of wisdom to share with my children along with the patience and love to teach.  So you see, I can't claim the glory. . . . . . BUT I will surely enjoy His blessing in the outcome!  *big grin*

*Proverbs 22:6*
    "Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it"

Having my Littles help isn't so I can obviously get the job done the way I would like it - though my pride would say otherwise.  It's a teachable moment - if I take the time to embrace it!  When they are older, they will have learned homebuilding skills and developed some sort of routine that they too can pass onto their children.  Lazy begets lazy.  Surely NOT what I want them to learn!  So the sooner they help, the better.  :)


So what do I get in our house when the Littles help? ? ? ? ? . . . . .

I get the help of a renowned food critic - who apparently is grossed out by a raw/whole ckn . . . .

I get ALL of my main ingredients inspected and prepped before dinner (potato inspection in process). . . .

I receive a 'Get-Out-of-Bending' free card w/vacuuming. . . which is great during pregnancy! . . . .

And one of my favorites! . . . . I get the CUTEST taste testers!

***Yes, I will take my Littles for the job over doing it myself ANY day!!!

**This post is also linked to: