For me, nothing has been more humbling than being a mom.  

There is a reason why experts have written thousands of books about parenting and mothering. 

Being A Mom Can Be Very Hard

The media often portrays motherhood as easy-to-do, rewarding, and effortless: a clean house, perfectly happy children, a delicious dinner waiting on the table at 6pm sharp…. 😀

Before I became a mom, I was quite judgmental in my head of how other moms parented. I thought I knew how they “should” and “should not” handle their children. I am not proud of this.

Now as a mother of two, I realize that each child is unique, and if a “How-To Manual” for children existed, I would need a different one for each child. For example, what works for motivating my daughter to finish homework, does not work for my son. 

No matter how much we educate, discipline, set boundaries, model, or pray, we still cannot control our kids – and the choices they make – all the time. 

Of course, this doesn’t mean that we give up on educating, disciplining, setting boundaries, modeling, or praying for our kids. It is just recognizing that, despite the many rewards of being a mom, this role can be really challenging, unrewarding, and overwhelming at times. 

We do our best to use our intuition and experience to parent our children. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. 

We all want our kids to accomplish great things, excel at school, and most importantly, to be kind and compassionate. When your child doesn’t reflect the values that you have taught him or her about finishing homework, doing chores, or how to treat others, it often feels like it’s your fault. 

As a Work-In-Progress Mom and Non-Parenting Expert, 😀 I am here to tell you it is NOT your fault when things don’t go as you would like!

Acknowledge You Are Doing The Best You Can … And So Are Other Moms! 

I am particularly grateful for moms who understand that parenting is hard and that we are all trying to do our best. It takes courage to be honest about our kids’ challenges and our own parenting struggles. 

Time and time again, I am amazed that when we share the truth with one another, we find common threads in our struggles to raise our children well. 

When we recognize that we are “all doing the best we can,” it is such a gift to ourselves and to each other. 

So, this Mother’s Day: 

• Celebrate and know that you are working hard and are dedicated to being a great mom, even when things go wrong.  
• Appreciate that you cannot control everything your child does, but you can always control your reaction and response.
• Acknowledge that you are doing the best you can as a mom, and so are other moms.
• Share your parenting struggles with other trusting moms – this is a gift we can give each other to assure us that we are not alone!
  

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

💜😀💜

Kathy McCabe
Life Coach

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