Simplifying Motherhood.

Happy Mothers Day Weekend!

I am so blessed to have so many mothers in my life!

Mom, grandmothers, step mother, mother in law. I am beyond blessed with wonderful women who inspire me. 

I have been thinking alot about motherhood lately. 

Today I had a mom Fail.

We went to the park this morning with some friends. It was a beautiful morning, and we had some fun play and social time. It started to rain, so I hurried to get the kids into the car. Payton is very good about hopping in his seat on his own while I buckle the babies. Unfortunately today the car was parked on a bit of a slant. I was placing Kayson in his seat when I see Payton attempt to open his door. The slant of the car pulled his door shut right away. I hear him start to scream. That heart wrenching scream that brings out the protective momma bear side of me. I run to the other side of the car and see my poor helpless 3 year old with his fingers in the closed car door. He was trying to pull them out, causing more pain and screaming harder. I quickly opened the door and picked him up to comfort him. He just sobbed and sobbed. I wrapped his bleeding fingers in a tissue, and put him in his seat. I grabbed Cohen from the stroller, loaded him in his seat,  packed up the stroller, and jumped in the car to hurry home. Payton cried and cried, and all of a sudden stops crying and says "mom, Kayson is going to come get you."  I turn and see my adorable little slobbery Kayson turned around in his seat, and climbing up it towards me. oops. Forgot to buckle him in after the finger slam. I stop and buckle him quickly. We get home and I clean and bandage up Payton's fingers. Luckily they didn't get hurt too bad. Just some scrapes and cuts. Nothing broken. Nothing deep enough for stitches. Apple juice, some kisses and cuddles from mom, and an episode of Jake and the pirates did the trick. 

Motherhood is a wonderful, rewarding, exciting, fun, challenging, horrible, impossible job. 

I often spend too much time on the addictive world of social media. Facebook, instagram, blogs and pinterest are daily visits for me. Ok ok....maybe many times daily. There are always some wonderful ideas, inspiring stories, and fun new activities to try! You can find anything you want from decorating ideas, to new recipes, to ideas to help potty train. They can be extremely useful tools! I often leave the sites feeling so motivated! However. I have also found myself leaving these sites feeling inadequate. Completely and totally inadequate as a mom. As a wife. As a woman. 

I don't plan enough fun stuff for my kids. 

I don't use cloth diapers. 

I don't cook only with organic food.

I am not skinny enough.

I let my babies cry it out to learn to sleep. 

My family eats mac n cheese, chicken nuggets and other processed food. 

I don't read to my kids enough. 

My house isn't clean enough.

I have and will work most of my kids life. 

I get upset at my kids too much.

I don't have enough patience with them.

And the list goes on and on and on and on. 

My kids will probably be cancer infested, unsociable, deprived people with major lifelong attachment issues because of my parenting. 

At least this is sometimes how I feel leaving the social media world of perfect lives, perfect women, perfect moms, perfect kids, perfect houses, perfect decorating, perfect cooking...perfect everything. 

The same sites that can be motivating, inspiring and helpful can also be complete poison. 

No one is perfect. Everyone has flaws as a woman, mother, homemaker etc. 

It is sometimes hard to see from the outside looking in. Some woman may not try to portray perfection from their blog or instagram etc. They just may not write about the difficulties in their day. Just because someone is pinning fun fabulous ideas on pinterest doesn't mean they are doing them all. 

Others may be trying to hide behind a fake, perfect facade. 

This mothers day, I am trying to have more appreciation for myself. I am doing my best. I am no where near perfect. Nor do I need to be. I love my children. I would do anything for them. My world is centered around them. They know I love them. I hug and kiss them over and over again each day. I tell them I love them. I give them my attention. I try to plan fun things for them. I know I am not perfect. I know I need to continuously improve as a mom, wife, and woman. But as long as I am working on it, I can't expect anything more of myself.  

The truth is Motherhood needs to be simplified. Before the world of social media, no one sent each other pictures of their perfectly cooked dinner, or the amazing creative fun activity they did with their kids. People had their own lives, that wasn't shared with the world. I want to simplify my role as a mom, and turn the focus of motherhood back to my kids, not to how it compares to other mothers out there. 

So for mothers day this year, I am not cleaning, or cooking, or feeling guilty. I am relaxing and going out to eat with my wonderful family. I am not counting calories, or stressing about all the things that need done. I am going to have a simple, relaxing, stress free weekend. I hope you all can do the same and enjoy yourselves!

Happy Mother's Day!