Less Than Perfect

Lately I’ve been watching the young moms in my life run themselves ragged trying to be perfect moms. As I watch them try to do-all and be-all for their kids, I feel sad.

They’re not only missing out on self-care, but they are also missing out on the opportunity to teach empathy and humanity to their kids.

Guess what, tiny people? Mom is a person. She gets tired and overwhelmed just like anyone else. She falls short of the mark time and time again and that’s okay. She will never be perfect and that means that you don’t have to be either. She will forgive your meltdowns and you can forgive hers. She will need naps and so will you. She will get crabby just like you do. You will learn from her mistakes and grow from them.

I know that while you’re in the trenches of parenting, everything seems life and death. If you let your kids have too much screen time their brains will turn to mush, not enough and they won’t be able to keep up with technology. If you don’t make them eat their dinner they will have poor eating habits forever, force them to eat and they will end up with an unhealthy relationship with food. The worry list goes on and on.

iStock | Manley099

I have the benefit of hindsight, a LOT of hindsight (Grrrr!), and all those things I worried about (and there were a lot) they didn’t matter in the long run. I cringe when I think about the time I wasted trying to do the perfect thing in every situation. I was constantly exhausted.

My “kids” are fine, they’re great in fact, and I was not a perfect parent. I tried to be, oh how I tried, but I fell short. Sometimes, I even fell short monumentally. My kids learned more by seeing me fail than they would have if I had been perfect.

So, let me shout this from the rooftops: “YOU CAN’T DO IT ALL!” Quit trying to be perfect and relax. Sometimes, you just need to hang on and enjoy the ride.

I’m linking a short blog I wrote a few years ago. It’s worth a quick read to cement the need to give yourself a break.