Dear Brilliant Mothers Everywhere,
Some days we feel we don’t get it right when it comes to bringing up our little ones. In fact there can be many days all of us mothers question our parenting decisions. Especially when it seems like once you have won one battle, the very next day a new challenge and fight could be on your hands as these beautiful angels develop their own minds and learn that no is a great word for everything!
But for a second, let’s stop thinking about all the days you feel you have failed as a mother or might be failing as a mother, as now I would like you to think about all the moments you felt you had nailed this mothering business. Hopefully, as you spend time thinking on this topic, you will begin to recall many, many moments! If not, please start embracing that feeling when something next goes right for you as a mum, no matter how small. And allow yourself to feel accomplished.
Because that very small moment, and all the moments you spend time recalling, are the very definition of having a great day, and mean you are an accomplished mother. Even when at times your day may not have started off that great, but one amazing parenting moment happens even right at bed time only – this my fellow mummy friends means you had an amazing day. No matter how poor it may have started off, your day was a great day and so you should recall it in a good way!
My latest accomplished moment was a situation with food. My son Kade has been quite choosy with food lately, and has gone through the strangest of times with food lately. Normally he eats anything and everything I serve him, but for the last 2 months he really just wanted a whole lot of bland food, but then some types of bland food I served him were ‘wrong’. So this meant a lot of the creative dishes we normally serve to him (curry’s, stiry fry’s, etc) were out the window for him for a while (and so was a lot of nourishing veg!).
Even though I stuck to my guns during this choosy period, and kept offering him these dishes to see if he was back in like with them, all of a sudden that day (or should I say night) came around. And I smiled to myself. In that moment all was right with the world again as him eating and enjoying healthy food, in a non forced way of course, is uber important. And although my outsides were not making a big excited scene, inside I was screaming ‘HALLELUJAH!’.
This taught me we often underestimate how hard it is for our babies/toddlers as they may be going through a phase and cannot like us adults, use their words to tell us specifically what is wrong, and in Kade’s case, may have been causing him to be off a lot of food (but not all). And we must remember to have patience and understanding with them as they learn how to communicate and try to do what we ask of them. But my point to this whole article today is to also be sure to pat yourself on the back once in a while and enjoy feeling accomplished when these moments happen. As they are so significant, and can help you push on through life with more zest.
Even if this feeling of being an accomplished mother happens only for a little while – this feeling is what life is all about. Focusing on when things go right and not always the negative, as much as possible. As it is by doing this more and more we turn our minds into more positive places, happier places to live in, and through allowing yourself to focus on more positive moments, we then help our children to do the same and become less negative souls.
Thanks for reading and keep enjoying your parenting journey, no matter what it throws at you!
Amy
P.S. You are doing a fantastic job!
