Last night I was talking to a good friend of mine on the phone. Conversation turned to our kids, and the struggles and challenges that we have as mothers of young, strong-willed children. There are so many questions, and what works for one mom and kid doesn't always work for another. From the time they are babies: Do you let them cry it out? Sleep train or go with the flow? They get sick; do you take them to the doctor or wait it out? Then there is potty training and behavior issues. Is my kid ADD/autistic/diabetic/whatever else that I recently heard about? How do I get them to stop biting their friends/whining about everything? How do I teach them to be hard workers? Am I doing this right?
The list goes on and on.
Sometimes I think motherhood is hard. And it is hard. But I think as mothers sometimes we make it harder than it needs to be. We have a tendency as mothers to compare kids, parenting styles, homes, clothes, hobbies, talents, energy levels and roll it all up and label mothers (especially ourselves) as "bad" parents.
And we often forget to trust ourselves. We are mothers. We know our children. And we have access to divine help from the only Being who knows our children better than we do.
When I look at mothers that I admire, I see women who did just that. Women who trusted themselves and embraced motherhood: my mother, my mother-in-law, my church leaders, and many other mothers in my life.
I still love chatting with friends and hearing that I am not alone in this journey. That there are other mothers asking questions and struggling to know what to do. And I think prayers and questions can be answered by friends who have done this before (or are doing it now).
But I'm learning to trust myself, too. I think we all should a little more.
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