No More Perfect Moms

This encouraged me today...from Hearts at Home newsletter

No More Perfect Moms Insecurity. Every mom struggles with it. It shows up most when we compare ourselves to another mom. I experience this when talking with other moms of teenagers. In a recent conversation with another mom we were talking about dealing with our teenager’s attitudes. She explained how she had recently handled a situation and I immediately thought to myself, “The last time I dealt with my teen’s attitude, I blew it. She’s a better mom than I am because she handled that situation so well.” I just saw it this week in my daughter who is a new mom. She was with some other new moms who were talking about how quickly their babies nursed. Rilyn usually nurses for 30 minutes at a feeding, but these moms were saying that their babies were so full after only nursing for 10 to 15 minutes. The conversation caused Anne to question herself. “Do I have enough milk? Am I doing something wrong?”

When we compare ourselves to other moms, we will always come up short. Why? Because we’re comparing our insides to someone else’s outsides. That’s not a fair comparison at all. We’ll never know someone else as well as we know ourselves so this is a game we can never win.

Besides, I’m the mom God chose for my children and you are the mom God chose for your children. We are unique individuals who will parent differently than the mom next door. And that’s ok!

Let’s celebrate our differences and enjoy our unique qualities. Let’s thank God that the world is made up of individuals who have different strengths and weaknesses.

Let’s commit to stop playing the comparison game.

Just in case you’re not ready to completely give up on comparing…

…I yelled at my boys last week.

…I forgot my friend’s birthday.

…I was irritable with my hubby two days ago.

…I forgot to call one of my adult children back after they called me.

…I’ve served leftovers to my family more this week than I’ve made meals.

Feel better?