You are a Good Mom!

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Did you know that you are a good mom?  Let me tell you how I know…

I remember the days well.  They were long and I was absolutely exhausted at the end of them.  I couldn’t seem to work hard enough or fast enough to get much of my to do list done.  There were many interruptions in my days to clean up spilled milk or break up a fight.

It all seemed overwhelming and I was drowning.

The lists of demands were never ending and unforgiving and to top it all off I was supposed to be happy and love taking time to play with my children.  Who wrote these rules?  They only seemed to set me up for failure.

I was a bad mom.

First it came as just a thought but I quickly owned it and agreed with it.  “I must be doing it all wrong because I cannot get this mom thing right.  I am constantly failing. I’m a bad mom.”

Of course these were all thoughts and I am not sure I would utter them out of my lips other than discussing my frustrations with my husband.  I still wanted to get it right.  I still longed to figure it out.

But I just kept failing.  More than I was getting anything right I was getting it wrong {at least by my standards}.

One day everything changed.

My heart was forever changed as the veil was removed from my eyes and the truth flooded my world.

I heard myself.

I had heard the lie that I was a bad mom and I bought it, began to agree with it and even speak it over myself. “I’m a bad mom.”

I was becoming what I was agreeing with and what I was speaking over myself.

When God created the world and sat back and surveyed it all He said it was good.  You and I and motherhood are part of His creation and He declared it all good.

I’m a good mom.  That’s the truth. Not a perfect mom. Not a mom who has it all together but a good mom.  That is what I combat the bad mom thoughts with… truth.

I start to become what I believe and agree with.  I was agreeing with the lie that I was a bad mom and I was in a rut that I couldn’t get out of that confirmed over and over again to me that I was bad and doing it all wrong.  Now that I know the truth, and believe it, I am becoming a better and better mom.

I am a good mom and you are too! Do you believe it?

Filed Under: Encouragement for Moms, You Are a Good Mom!

Don’t Let a Rough Morning Define Your Day {or Who You Are}

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You know what it’s like. You wake up and wish you could sleep for another hour.  Your kids wake up grumpy and don’t remember your “keep your hands to yourself” rule.  You end up rushing around because someone doesn’t have a clean shirt or can’t find their homework.  Once again you let your kids have it for not laying everything out the night before like you’ve told them to do a hundred million times before. Secretly inside you are kicking yourself for ever trusting them to do it on their own and not checking to make sure everything was done…but you were just so tired {still are}.

A rough morning like this longs to define the rest of your day.  It wants to stretch its tentacles into noon time when lunch is pressing and you’ve barely started the laundry. It hopes to still be around when the afternoon is over and that nap you so desperately needed {to survive the rest of the day} just didn’t happen.

You give a rough morning power when you let it define your day. You can let a rough morning define who you are and your life. It’s a cycle that can be tough to break and can rule a mom’s heart.

It starts with the inward mental beating that you give yourself for not doing a better job, being more prepared, or having it all together.  The mental beating will continue until you put a stop to it.

The way to stop the madness of letting these things define your day {or who you are} is to realize when you are having these negative thoughts and start to hold them captive. Lock them up and refuse to give into the feelings they bring and the self condemnation that they feed on.

You are a good mom! When you believe that you WILL start to become it. When you believe that you aren’t you won’t be.  Our thoughts are SO powerful.  They can rule our day or our entire life.

When the morning has been rough, and it seems as though you failed, and the thoughts come barging in to tell you you’re no good, take a deep breath, smile and remember that you are learning this mothering thing.  You will have new moments to do it better, to learn what works and what doesn’t. Remind yourself you are a good mom who is diligently working on becoming a better mom all of the time. Then kiss your rough morning goodbye and enjoy the rest of the day!

Do you have days like this? You know I am writing this from my own experience right?! I’ve been there many times. How do you overcome a bad morning?

Filed Under: You Are a Good Mom! Tagged With: