Dear moms,
I know you really like stuff like this. I do too.
I used to use messages like this to justify myself in the parts of me that I wasn’t mastering.
- Carrying around extra weight
- Not pursuing fulfilling hobbies
- Not learning anything new
- I could only have so much patience when dealing with kids all day every day.
- Lack of organization/cleanliness that I wanted
- Inability to serve others
- My marriage wasn’t happy.
You name it, the kids were to blame.
Everything I did was for my kids and gosh dangit, they were lucky to have me.
Then one day, someone proposed a question to me:
If your kids grow up to be just like you, would you be proud of what you had taught them?
The answer was a resounding, “Hell, no. I’m not happy.”
That day I started to change.
Now, I live my life for the greatest amount of health and happiness that I can find
because that is what I want most for my children.
I suggest you do the same.
You can’t believe how good it feels.
You don’t even have to neglect your children,
or yourself,
or your God.
You will come to see that they all go hand in hand
towards your greatest health and happiness.
Love,
A changed mom.
alice w. gold 
Lovely. I really like it!
Thank you Angel. I only had 10 minutes this morning, but I just had to get this out after seeing this pin on facebook. It is so nice to have moved on from the unhealthy justification in my life.
Some of the best advice about newborns that I got was that if they won’t stop crying, it’s totally Ok to set them down and go do something else for a little bit. Sit on the patio, put headphones in and listen to some music, do something to regain your sanity. Chances are that the baby would have cried for that little while whether or not you held her, and a refreshed mom is better for everyone. I think it’s a similar principle. It’s OK to take some time for you–you don’t have to feel guilty about it. And a lot of the time, taking a little time to keep yourself together helps everything else, too.
Great advice Eliza, and I think with each kid added to a family, the advice becomes more and more vital. Thanks for sharing. I so wish I could do my first ten years of parenting over again. 🙂
Wow. Just what I needed to read today. Really. WRITE MORE COOL STUFF 🙂
Thank you Lori. I appreciate your encouragement so very much. I will keep writing, and hope to make it cool as often as possible.