INSPIRATION THIS WEEK: MOTHER'S DAY
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! And I mean you too, fur moms! And ladies taking care of other people's children as if they were your own, you get a shout out too!
I could have picked a THOUSAND different topics for this week considering this is something so close to home to me. One of the many topics that are so relevant to all moms out there is this idea of comparison and feeling "good enough".
But I encourage you even if you're not a mom in any capacity to still read on, because this message can really apply to anyone!
THEME OF THE WEEK: CHEERS TO THE HOT MESS MOMS!
This was a post that's probably been re-posted too many times to count, so I don't know who to give original credit to. However, this post speaks for itself:
A few days ago while at the pool I watched a young Mama and her little daughter enter the pool area dressed in very nice coordinating swimming suits. The mom, with her perfect loose curls tied up in a coordinating scarf, spent the first few minutes talking loudly on her phone to a friend while her daughter stood waiting to get into the pool. Mom ended the phone call and proceeded to spread out pool toys and sunscreen on a matching towel. Then after finding just the right angle and the right light, Mama pulled out her tripod and took a few selfies with her daughter. Little One asked to get in the pool. Mama said wait and then posed her daughter in front the pool, then going in to the pool and then coming back out of the pool. Little one smiled big and said "cheese" like she'd done it a million times. Then Mama told her she could play. Little One walked in and swam around for a couple of minutes. Mama called a friend on her phone and began another conversation while Little One politely and repeatedly asked "Mama, can you come in the water with me, please?" She was ignored. "Mama, come play with me?" she asked 4 more times. Mama glanced over at her but never got off the phone. After 10 minutes Mama ended her call, collected the sunscreen that was never applied, the water toys that never touched the water, and then her daughter and left the pool.
I sat there thinking about what I'd witnessed for awhile afterwards. I imagined the photos she took being perfectly edited and posted to social media with a caption like "Pool time with my girly! #Makingmemories".
Somewhere another Mama is going to be at home with her children, the house a mess from their play, her hair unruly from a day of mothering and her clothes dirty with spit up or peanut butter. She's going to be tired because she's spent her day cooking, caring, cleaning and playing with her children. She's going to look at that photo and she is going to compare herself to the perfect Mama at the pool. The Adversary is going to whisper into her ear "you aren't good enough... You don't look like that Mama at the pool... You don't have money to buy expensive swimming suits like that and you don't have time to make memories like she is" and that young Mama is going to believe it. She's going to feel like a failure. She'll never know that how she spent her time that day was so much better in her children's eyes than that "perfect Mama" at the pool.
What we see on Social Media isn't always real. Sometimes and often it's a complete set-up. It's staged and filtered and it's counterfeit.
Sometimes we do see absolutely real photos of vacations and beautiful homes and freshly done hair but it's only ONE moment. It's the very best moment out of a whole day spent much like our own. Working, cleaning, and messes...
Mamas, don't compare yourself. You ARE enough! You are amazing and the very best part is that you are REAL! Your dirty shirt and your messy house and your happy children are real and they are proof that you are doing it right!
CHALLENGE THIS WEEK: PUT THE PHONE DOWN AND BE PRESENT
I hope you took away the same thing I did from that. Not only is it important to not compare to fakebook and instaglam snapshots and embrace yourself in all your messy glory, but it's even more important to be present. Don't worry about getting that hashtag worthy snapshot to put on social media. What matters is being present with your kids (or just being present for those without kids). Put the phone down and ENJOY this beautiful weekend doing whatever it is you're doing. Take a mental snapshot instead!
