It was over at a blog called Faith and Composition and entitled "When Mothering is Hard and No One Sees."
It hit me hard. It put words to absolutely everything I feel about how some days are just hard. Not even that anything "hard" happened that day - just the day-in-day-out routine of motherhood. The not being seen, or feeling appreciated.
Mothering is hard.
I have formed some theories about this over the last several years of being a mom, and I have read hundreds of articles and blog posts about all the reasons for life feeling so difficult for moms.
We live in unprecedented times of access to information on every aspect of parenting. We are one of the first generations of moms that has psychological studies, medical studies, thousands of parenting "gurus" and their advice all at our fingertips. 24 hours a day, we can Google any little thing that pops into our heads and come away an hour later with scads of contradictory answers and a strong conviction that we are screwing up our kids in ways that are irreparable.
I don't know about you, but this has led me to feel like a failure. Every single day. I look at my kids and all that I do for my family and think, "All this stuff should make me feel empowered! Like a force to be reckoned with" but instead, I am constantly analyzing all the ways I could have done better. I end my day thinking, "Wow, I really f****d that up. And woo hoo, back at it first thing in the morning."
But, the blog post got me thinking.....
What if?
What if we all made it our mission to compliment just one mom today?
What if, instead of rolling our eyes at that out of control kid at the market, we offer to help his/her mom grab the last couple of things on her list while she starts waiting in line?
What if we made it a point to be nice to someone else's kid and make them smile?
What if we saw that mom who is struggling to keep it together and gave her a smile or paid for her coffee (you know she probably needs it!)?
What if we made it part of our daily "to-do" list to make sure we tell a mom-friend what we think she totally rocks as a mom? Is it her ability to calm her kids quickly? Her awesome crafts? Her yummy cupcakes? Tell her! At least one mom, every single day. Make it sincere. Make it a habit.
What if we told every single mom we encounter on any given day, "I see you! And what you are doing is important."?
So, my friends. I send you out on a mission this Valentine's Day....let's make sure every mom knows that we see her and appreciate her. The worse that could happen is that you totally make her day and give her the energy to face another feeling awesome.
And let me know...what would YOU like to be told as a mom? How are you feeling unappreciated? How can I lift you up today?
