Parenting is hard.
Gee, what an earth-shattering discovery you’ve made there, Katie! You say. But hear me out.
Parenting will shake you to your core. You’ll have days where you’ll question everything- your decisions, your attitude, your beliefs, your sanity. All of it. There’ll be days when you feel like drowning, like you’re being crushed by the weight of it all, and you’ll feel like you can’t do this. You weren’t made to do this. You’ll feel completely and utterly lost.
And guess what? That’s normal. She feels that way, and so does she, and that “perfect” mom that seems to have everything together, all of the time, with her perfectly clean house and her perfectly clean children (ha!) and her perfectly perfect everything? That’s a lie. She doesn’t. It isn’t. They aren’t. Not all of the time. Not, I’d hazard to guess, even most of the time.
We’re all flawed and stumbling through the days. None of us really know what we’re doing. And thank God, right? Nobody needs that kind of pressure.
But that doesn’t matter. None of it matters. Because the core of parenting isn’t what you look like or the state of your belongings (or your number of belongings, at that). It isn’t what you have, but who you have. It isn’t what kind of car you drive, but how happy and content the people inside that car are.
So let’s measure our successes by the smiles on our faces, the stolen kisses, the instances where we chose to laugh instead of cry (not always easy, but always the better decision), the baby giggles and the love that we feel. Because that is what this is all about. And it’s easy to compare, but I say to END that now. It’s a lie and it’s a thief, Comparison. And it doesn’t do anybody any good.
Let’s go to bed tonight with full and content hearts, happy in our lives right here and now, wherever that may be.
xo
p.s. read more of my latest musings on parenting here, here, here and here!
I love this post. I really struggled for a while with how HARD parenting was. And I came to the conclusion that it is hard for everyone. You will stumble and fall, but you just pick yourself back up and keep going. Because you have little ones that depend on you and look to you for comfort and support.
Yes, you speak the truth! It’s so different when you have little ones who rely on you for everything- you see just how strong you really are!
xo
Parenting is SO hard, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world! Great post Katie!
Amen, girl!!! And thank you :)
xo
Great post as usual mamma!!! Xoxo
Thanks so much :)
xo
Ugh – YES girl YES! Your timing could not be more perfect. I’m reading Daring Greatly by Brene Brown and she does an awesome job of talking about allowing comparison to steal our joy (even if sometimes the comparison is to old versions of ourselves). Love your take on measuring motherhood success by those sweet everyday moments. Those are definitely the ones worth remembering! :)
Ooh that sounds like a book I need to read!! Thanks for the suggestion!
xo
I love, love, love how real and genuine you are!! Keep it up!
Aw thanks so much, Ann!!
xo
This is exactly what I needed today! It’s really hard not to compare ourselves, or feel incompetent at times, but I’m getting better at accepting life for all that ‘it is’ instead of what it could be. Thanks for sharing this, you’re such a beautiful momma<3
Aww I’m so glad this helped you! Thanks for your sweet words, too. :)
xo
Thank you for sharing this today! It was definitely something I needed to hear! Good luck mama, you’re going great work!
Thank you so much, Kristen!!! So glad you needed to hear this :)
xo
Amen Katie thanks for the reminder! So true that comparison is the thief and oh with social media it can be really hard at times to not fall in this trap. Thanks for writing. ????
xo, Nicole
YES, so so true! Thanks for your sweet comment Nicole! :)
xo
I love this… a little louder for the people in the back!
http://www.feeltheesunlight.com/
I really need to hear this nearly everyday. <3
Aww I’m so glad this spoke to you!! Hugs, mama! You’ve got this!
xo
Katie- I am a new step parent and this is defiantly how I am feeling a lot and I am just learning how to deal with it. I love your parenting posts they give me hope that I am not going to lose it.
Rebecca, thank you for your sweet comment. I’m so happy to hear that I could give you some hope!!! You are absolutely NOT alone and you’re doing a great job! <3 Hugs to you! You've got this.
xo
This post was great! I really needed to hear this. My son is almost three months and it’s nice to hear that it will in fact be okay. I need to constantly remind myself that.
Aw I’m glad this resonated with you. That’s why I wrote it! Hang in there, mama. You’re doing great!
xo