pat your back

So, I have learned in these past several years, that if you are a Mama, you have guilt.  Mine started when I was newly pregnant.  I realized, counting on my fingers one morning, that I was *late.*  So I dug out a pregnancy test from the closet that I had received in a shower gift, and took it.  I needed to start getting ready for work, so I jumped in the shower, leaving the test on the bathroom counter.  I truly didn't expect it to be positive, it really was just for my peace of mind that I was just late out of stress or the cold I had just had.

Mid-shower I peeked at the test.  2 lines and they weren't light.  Glaring was more like it.  I took it in my hand, and was just shocked looking at it - and then I slipped in the shower.  Fell right on my heiney, the water falling on me...and was immediately guilty!  Pregnant?!  And I fell already!!!  Oh my gosh, and the cold medicine I took last week!!  I haven't been taking folic acid...I haven't been taking any vitamins at all!!

You get my drift?  How often a day do we berate ourselves as mommies?  When we let our kid eat a bag of fruitsnacks, and don't insist they finish their soup.  And when I say soup, I mean the canned stuff, so we feel guilty about that too.  How about when we snap at our little angel to HURRY-UP-AND-GET-DRESSED knowing full well that if we had gotten out of bed earlier than little angel, we could help him/her better and possibly make it through the morning without rushing.  We feel guilty letting them watch another 1/2 hour of tv...make that an hour.  We feel guilty every.single.time we compare our weaknesses to another mommy's strengths.  Sure, another mommy may handmake their child's babyfood, blankets, and have scrapbooks that should be showcased in a magazine...but perhaps they sacrifice time with their child to accomplish those things.  Perhaps your strength isn't handmaking a blessed thing, but you love playing football with your kid outside for hours.

Wait...I don't do either of those things...

But my point is, I do have strengths as a mother.  Plenty of weaknesses that yes, sometimes the guilt can be suffocating!  I am trying to get away from that.  I am trying to remember that God made me a certain way, and I would make much better use of my time using the gifts He gave me to the best of my ability, than to wish for other gifts and abilities that don't come naturally to me.  I don't think it's wrong to try to do something that isn't your "gift" - like learning how to sew even if you seem to be all thumbs.  But when you do so only out of guilt, or to measure up to someone else, it's not going to go well.

So what are your strengths as a mother?  Take some time today to think about it, and give yourself a nice pat on the back.

Mommy Monday

A mommy moment, brought to you courtesy of Bailey Caelyn and Taylor Elise.   Or the cats - Maela, Oreo or Cocoa.  I don't know who is responsible...and you'll see why in a minute.

So last week, both girls were home with me Friday.  Tatie had off anyway, but she did have a cold so I would've kept her and Bailey had a cold too.  They were laying around, tv, Leapsters, Wii...so I took the opportunity to go on a cleaning binge. All was fun and games (except for the fun and games part) until I was changing the sheets on Kevin's and my bed.  I heaped the blankets on the floor, changed the sheets and then was putting the blankets back on, when I see GOBS and STREAKS of what looks like poop all over the blanket.  I smell it (that's what moms do when they're not sure if maybe it's chocolate that a little one snuck and ate hidden in a blanket) and ascertain it is in fact poop.  I call to the girls and ask them if either one had an accident in Mommy's bed.  They say no, and laugh hysterically at the thought of one of them letting loose on a bed.  Not convinced, I make them lay out exposing their heineys, to see if there is any remnant of it on their cute little cheeks.  After pinching their cute little cheeks because I can't help myself - which spurs Taylor to tell me off, stating it's her heiney and I can't have it - I am confident I need to move on to the cats.  After several minutes of searching and 3 cats looking at me like I am defiling them, I am now completely stumped.  All 3 cats and both children seem to be in the clear. 


WHO SHAT THE BED?!  I wonder whether I should call Kevin, but I decide his manhood means more to me than questioning him on whether or not he took a dump on a blanket.  Plus, he wasn't sick or anything, so I can't believe it was him.  That leaves me.  And I didn't do it.  I am 100% sure.

So I still don't know who did it, and I am still thinking about this great mystery.  I'm just thankful I found it when I did, instead of at 11pm that night, as Kevin and I pull the covers up around us.

It would've been a mood killer, for sure.