Mommy guilt stinks, and I swear I am going to learn to kick it in the teeth!
Well, it is 10:14 pm, I've gone to bed, and gotten up again to ensure my sweet babes are covered up and sleeping soundly. I always love that, I love creeping into their little rooms and pulling up the covers even just a bit (it makes me feel like I'm doing something very important for them...) Anyway, I treasure those moments.
Hi, my name is Kimberly...I'm a very attached Mom. Ok, I'm a helicopter Mom...I'm the mom who struggles with boundaries...I'm the Mom that always wants to fix everything, and make sure nothing bad EVER happens to my children. Hum...if only it were possible to wrap them in bubble wrap...(mental note: check cost of bubble wrap on Amazon after I write my blog) Ha...ok, I recognize the problem and as much as a joke about it, I pray about it, I really do...and God is working in me, and I'm learning many ways to be a great Mom without hovering over them...I am.
Back to where I wanted to go with this...Mommy guilt. I think I couldn't sleep tonight because I was worrying about dropping Natalie off at the daycare for an hour while I swim laps tomorrow...alright, it's not any ole' daycare...it's the little nursery about oh, 50 feet from where I'll be swimming...I can see right inside as I swim...same building...yep, and I'm sitting here feeling guilty about that. I'm sitting here beating myself up over my need for exercise and her need for outside social interaction.
REALITY CHECK: It will be for about 1 hour. She will play with new fun toys, other kids...she will do fantastic (after the first 5 minutes). Mom's need their exercise and realistically I cannot be expected to spend each moment with her, right? Right! So...Mommy guilt...BAM! There's your kick in the teeth!
I'm sitting here beating myself up because Mr. Aiden is spending the night with his Memaw on Thursday night and his Dad over the weekend....I feel like I need to be there for each waking moment of his life...but, that's not reality. My kids need love from other people. That's normal, that's healthy...that's a good thing.
REALITY CHECK: Mr. Aiden will go be loved on and have a blast with his grandparents...and he will get to do some fun stuff with his Dad. He will be just fine! Mommy guilt...you get another kick in the teeth!
These are just two examples of the mommy guilt I have issues with....and as Mom's we know that, that list can go on and on. I think it's important to step back and put things into perspective when that mom guilt tries to take over. There are questions we can ask ourselves, and it is my belief that if we are truly and honestly loving and training out little children up as we should we need to stomp mommy guilt to the ground. Keep everything in perspective. As mom's we have to care for our needs too. We must be well rested, our marriage must be healthy, we need to invest in our faith, and we need to invest in ourselves. Mom's need time to just be women sometimes. Someone wrote in a blog I read recently that we need to love our children to let them go...we cannot keep them forever, and we cannot hover over them forever like little helicopters...they need space and they need to breathe....We are enough for these little people. When we are loving them, and guiding them properly we are enough...
Well, it is 10:14 pm, I've gone to bed, and gotten up again to ensure my sweet babes are covered up and sleeping soundly. I always love that, I love creeping into their little rooms and pulling up the covers even just a bit (it makes me feel like I'm doing something very important for them...) Anyway, I treasure those moments.
Hi, my name is Kimberly...I'm a very attached Mom. Ok, I'm a helicopter Mom...I'm the mom who struggles with boundaries...I'm the Mom that always wants to fix everything, and make sure nothing bad EVER happens to my children. Hum...if only it were possible to wrap them in bubble wrap...(mental note: check cost of bubble wrap on Amazon after I write my blog) Ha...ok, I recognize the problem and as much as a joke about it, I pray about it, I really do...and God is working in me, and I'm learning many ways to be a great Mom without hovering over them...I am.
Back to where I wanted to go with this...Mommy guilt. I think I couldn't sleep tonight because I was worrying about dropping Natalie off at the daycare for an hour while I swim laps tomorrow...alright, it's not any ole' daycare...it's the little nursery about oh, 50 feet from where I'll be swimming...I can see right inside as I swim...same building...yep, and I'm sitting here feeling guilty about that. I'm sitting here beating myself up over my need for exercise and her need for outside social interaction.
REALITY CHECK: It will be for about 1 hour. She will play with new fun toys, other kids...she will do fantastic (after the first 5 minutes). Mom's need their exercise and realistically I cannot be expected to spend each moment with her, right? Right! So...Mommy guilt...BAM! There's your kick in the teeth!
I'm sitting here beating myself up because Mr. Aiden is spending the night with his Memaw on Thursday night and his Dad over the weekend....I feel like I need to be there for each waking moment of his life...but, that's not reality. My kids need love from other people. That's normal, that's healthy...that's a good thing.
REALITY CHECK: Mr. Aiden will go be loved on and have a blast with his grandparents...and he will get to do some fun stuff with his Dad. He will be just fine! Mommy guilt...you get another kick in the teeth!
These are just two examples of the mommy guilt I have issues with....and as Mom's we know that, that list can go on and on. I think it's important to step back and put things into perspective when that mom guilt tries to take over. There are questions we can ask ourselves, and it is my belief that if we are truly and honestly loving and training out little children up as we should we need to stomp mommy guilt to the ground. Keep everything in perspective. As mom's we have to care for our needs too. We must be well rested, our marriage must be healthy, we need to invest in our faith, and we need to invest in ourselves. Mom's need time to just be women sometimes. Someone wrote in a blog I read recently that we need to love our children to let them go...we cannot keep them forever, and we cannot hover over them forever like little helicopters...they need space and they need to breathe....We are enough for these little people. When we are loving them, and guiding them properly we are enough...