Give Yourself a Break

Do you ever watch or read something and you feel like you can actually relate to the person and their situation? I felt like that today when I watched Moms Night Out.

"An endearing true-to-life family comedy that celebrates the beautiful mess called parenting"

 

You don't have to have had to watch the movie to understand the feelings of the main character Allyson- I told my husband she is totally crazy! ... (and he looked at me because she is so similar to me) but in such a relatable way.

It's about a mom who just feels a little overwhelmed, a little crazy and overly anxious by the mess, the safety of the children and just about everything else, a little stretched too thin at times and then just has some "moments" ie. major meltdowns. Yup I can definitely relate.

As moms I think we just feel -- inadequate at times... like we are just not good enough - the house isn't clean enough, we don't spend enough quality time with our kids - playing with them, teaching them kindness, proper social and language skills, preparing them for life.

 

But when are we ever going to give ourselves a break???

Say its okay if they watch a few too many hours of tv in a day when we feel like crap. Say its ok if we cook frozen chicken fingers and fries for dinner instead of a fresh home cooked meal, when we forgot to take meat out of the freezer in the morning. Say its ok if you can't wear your whitest socks because I'm a week overdue for mopping?

 

Those moms on tv, in books and blogs that seem to have everything together - do just that - have the appearance of perfectness - nobody is actually perfect although I'm sure some of us handle it a little a lot better than others.

But stills as moms all we can do is try. That's it! - Just try our best. And if we have a bad day - loose our patience or burn dinner alls we can do is try a little harder tomorrow and stop beating ourselves up already! Because we are by far our own toughest critics.

Allyson says she feels like she just isn't enough -- for her husband, her kids her mother but as Bones says she is only not enough for herself.

For the most part our children our happy, healthy and generally well adapted, who cares if society says they should be potty trained by x date, sleep alone without waking through the night and have perfect social skills.

 

Try a little harder to appreciate the small things - impromptu dance parties, baby giggles, small accomplishments and give yourself a break already!