We all want the very best for our children, but it’s impossible to do everything right all the time. Admitting that is freeing – and it’s also encouraging to other moms in the midst of intense seasons. That’s the idea behind our Monday Mom Confessions and we’d love for you to join us – share your own confession in the comments below! Let’s throw off the weight of perfection and get real around here!
Seven-thirty on a Wednesday evening, I walked tiredly downstairs after getting my kids to bed. This night, like many, I had drifted off to sleep in my son’s bed because at six years old he still loves mommy cuddles. I entered the kitchen knowing the evening ahead. Clean the kitchen, attempt to finish up the laundry (and maybe even get it folded), finally pack the lunches that I unsuccessfully had attempted to make as I threw together a quick dinner. I also had to log in to work to finish up something from the day. Oh, and I really wanted to go to bed at a reasonable hour considering I had to be up at 4:30 am the next morning.
It was one of those nights.
They seem to be frequent.
Even with a stellar husband who shares in any and all responsibilities with me, I still found myself feeling drowned as I faced all I had left to do. As my husband started cleaning and I started packing up lunches, I threw a handful of goldfish crackers into my mouth and realized something. I had failed to feed myself dinner. The kids were fed and bathed right on schedule but it had not been a sit-down-to-dinner-as-a-family type of night. It was more of a here-is-a-peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich-and-some-tomatoes type of night. And yeah, I felt fine about that.
I mean, they ate all the tomatoes.
As I finished my mouthful of goldfish I thought about making dinner for myself. Oh, and maybe for my husband. But then I thought wow, that seems like a lost of work. I mean, by now my husband had already done the dishes. I really didn’t want to make more of a mess. As my husband left for the gym, I decided to log in to work so I could get that off my plate and off my brain. As my computer booted up, my mind focused again on my hungry stomach.
It eventually came down to a couple of options.
Let’s recall I am not a meal planning expert.
I could skip eating. But that never seems appealing to me. I love food.
I could go get more goldfish crackers. That did not sound appealing either.
I could make something. But it was nearing my bedtime and the last thing I wanted to do was create a mess.
I could eat one of my kids’ lunches I had just packed and leave my husband to throw one together in the morning before driving the kids to school. But that seemed plain mean.
No, none of these options would satisfy my needs.
On this given Wednesday night, I did the only thing I had the energy to do.
I ate popcorn for dinner.
And it was good!
Moms, sometimes we have those weeks where we feel we are conquering it all. Getting our kids to places on time, meeting work deadlines, making healthy meals, keeping our house clean, remembering to pray as a family around the dinner table.
And sometimes…well, sometimes we eat popcorn for dinner.
So there you have my confession for the week. Just promise not to tell my kids. They would be super jealous and question even more my demands for them to eat all those tomatoes.
What is your mom confession? We’d love to hear!
