More experience, longer amounts of sleep, a little more patience, thicker skin and a lot of emotional exposure…

This Mom life – – I feel as though I can say I’m getting it!

…at least more than I could say last year and much more than I could before I became a mother.

I get that it’s hard, stressful + exhausting. I get that it’s perfect, wonderful + absolutely amazing. Whether you have one or ten kids, chaos + beauty have no limits, they can be hard to separate and will change in definition each day.

In the past couple years I can say that I’ve found myself inpatient, fearful, concerned, overwhelmed, weak, helpless, exhausted, protective, critical, defensive, offended, stressed out, defeated…

But mostly and overall I am grateful, proud, amazed, blessed, strong, incredibly thankful, and so very much in love.

You might wonder why I would even share my negatives… Thankfully, these negative moments are shallow and short lived and tend to be graciously followed up by a deep positive that remains constant. Admitting to all the negatives is a little uncomfortable and yes, we can control our feelings. But I don’t believe I’m alone on this and if anyone tells me that they’ve felt none of the above (as a parent or mom), then I would love to know where you get your magic potions, which planet you reside on and I assume you click your heels and twitch your nose.

I think it’s necessary that we (mom’s) shed a little light on the truth. It’s not easy. Nobody understands our job, our role, our day, our struggles, our feelings besides us. We can seek advice or help and find a quick fix, a moment of encouragement or feeling of confidence but what nobody will ever understand is what goes on in our minds and exactly how our hearts and souls feel. In all our moments of glory and every moment of loss, WE may not even understand. But what we do know is that eventhough we hold the same title as “mom”, our motherhood experiences differ vastly.

…even when we don’t think we have the time.

Whether you stay at home or seek balance between work and life… we all need to think twice before we judge our fellow Moms who were “called” for this role, just like we were. It can be so easy to misinterpret what we see on the outside, and (at times) difficult to look past perfection or disaster. We are all doing what we were meant to do. We are being the best MOMs we can be in the best way we know how – faults and all.

So, at the end of the day, when the kids are in their cozy slumber and all is calm – I’m learning to take a deep breath and know that all the good, bad and ugly I encounter from compliment to judgement… is just part of the formula that makes me MOM and how I handle it is what makes me human.

This Mom life – – I love it! Yes, my hands are full but my heart is overflowing…

From one {grateful, proud, amazed, blessed, strong, thankful and so very much in love} mother to another.

>>>Happy Mother’s Day<<<