I absolutely LOVE today’s guest post!!! It’s post number 35 in the Confessions of an Imperfect Mother series, and it’s just awesome! I hope you love it as much as I do!
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I have it all together. ALL together. I’ve got this whole mommy thing down.
My house is clean and tidy. All of my 4 children’s clothes and toys are well organized and always in their place. Laundry is never a daunting task for me. My children themselves are quiet and well-mannered, and never don a harsh tone or sassy attitude. I don’t know what a tantrum really is, though I have heard the stories. My husband is home promptly at 5:00 everyday to enjoy my home-cooked dinner. After a leisurely bath and bedtime routine, my husband and I cuddle on the couch. We enjoy a put-back-together, silent house until we retire for the night. It’s a charmed life, what can I say?
Charmed… you’d have to be charmed to pull ^that^ off! Can you see the sarcasm just oozing off of that paragraph?! Ick.
But seriously, don’t you feel like that is the standard set for moms? Exaggerated, but still!! It’s there people, I know, you know! Perfection is something sought, but why…
Let me give you a glimpse at reality… a glimpse at the imperfect. A glimpse at the real. My real.
Right now, I do sit in a quiet house. A messy quiet house. A messy quiet house with the dishwasher running, dryer running, and tidying needed before I pass out for the night. I just want to leave it messy. I really do. But then it’s messy tomorrow morning and the baby eats God-knows-what off the floor as she crawls around. So I will clean, way too late at night. I wonder if my neighbors mind me vacuuming atmidnight?
Oh and I said “pass out for the night,” as if I get one long stretch of sleep. HA. What I mean to say is… until I fall asleep for a few minutes before waking up for the baby’s first nighttime feeding. Then I will fall asleep again, before her second, third, and fourth nighttime feedings. Inevitably, I will let her cry to sleep because she won’t be hungry but she will be stuffy, since she has a cold, and is cranky, because she is cutting her FOUR top teeth. And yes, I have taken appropriate teeth soothing measures, but at some point, I just.want.sleep. So I let her cry, and ultimately, she sleeps.
The day brings getting my first grader off to school and then handling the ups and downs of life with my 3-and 4-year-olds. Drama, llama! The fighting, the squabbling, and the naughtiness! Oh my! Individually, they are sweet, but together. Good Lord. The baby is home too… she hangs on and enjoys the ride. Her biggest issue is the mortal enemy, three-year-old sister. Said sister thinks she owns said baby and can do with her as she pleases. The baby is learning to hold her own though. She’s becoming one tough, tiny chick.
Meals are made three times a day, not gourmet, not fancy, sometimes drive thru, but every belly gets filled. If you count snacks, every belly gets filled more times than I care to count, in a given day. Laundry is done, and admittedly I am decently good at keeping on top of that. My secret is the TV. I get to watch TV when I have laundry to fold. The more laundry I have washed and dried, the more time I get to sit on my butt to watch TV and fold it. I do like to organize, I’m a bit OCD in that realm, but nothing is ever 100% completed and gorgeous, as hard as I try to get it there. Pinterest isn’t real life. I’m not trendy anymore. My husband isn’t home for dinner, hardly ever, but he is driving an hour to and from work and working 8 hours every day so that I can stay home with the kids, so I suck it up. And my kids cry and tantrum… a lot. They are, as you’d say, spirited little people. Such spunk. o.O And sometimes I yell.
How is that for imperfection? But it’s me. It’s real. I’m real. I’m trying, trying so hard to do well for my family and myself, but am I perfect? Heck, no!
Anyone can claim that they have it all and can do it all…. anyone can show you glimpses of “Look, SEE, I am fantastic! Look how fantastic I am!” while really they are crying in their Cheerios because they are certain that no one else deals with the behind-the-scenes that they do. Perfection is a lie. Life is messy. Kids are messy, and sticky. Why are kids always sticky?! And why are their faces always dirty? ::sigh::
The truth is: if you are trying your best, you are excelling. I guarantee it! Life is such a process and raising kids is hard. It just is. It’s a huge responsibility, but I would bet money on the fact, that if you are reading this, you really love your kids and you are giving it your all. You probably are doing everything you can to make a good life for them. Imperfections come standard. God gives us each of our kids because we are the best person out of EVERYBODY in the whole wide world to raise them. I always thought that was cool. Each of my kids needs exactly what I have to give, so they were given to me. How’s that for humble pie?
So I will march on and continue raising my kids in all my imperfections. I will strive everyday to be better, but never to be perfect. That’s not my place. I’m human. We weren’t designed to be perfect. Hold your head high, tired, frazzled, overwhelmed mama. Your kids need you. Keep doing what you are doing and take it from me, nobody has it all together. Not a single soul. You’ve got this…
Susie is an open-to-life stay-at-home mama with 4 littles (so far). Her life is full of diaper-changing, fight-breaking, laundry-doing, spill-cleaning and lots and lots of little hugs in between.
Susie blogs over at I Said Be Nice. Be sure to pay her blog a visit and follow her on Facebook so you don’t miss out on a single one of her amazing posts! She also has a Graphic Design Site, be sure to check that out if you are looking for graphics!!!
Shannon says
A well written and wonderful post!
Dolly@Soulstops says
Thanks, Susie, for keeping it real :)
Dava says
Thank you so much for such an honest post! Real life is messy but wonderful!
Yvonne @ Sunnyside Up-Stairs says
I’m also happy to be reminded that our mess of a life is not as shocking as I think it is. :)
Susie - I Said Be Nice says
Thank you for the comments & the chance to be a guest blogger!!!!!