Thursday, July 17, 2008

supermom...NOT


i'm no supermom. is anyone? we all have our flaws. our dirty little mom-secrets. we pick up chicken nuggets on the way home because we're too tired to cook. we leave our kids in their pjs until dad calls to say he's on his way home. we put the kids to bed early on thursdays just so we can watch "the office" without interruption. no matter what your secret is, i think we all have them. i'm guilty of forgetting that, though. i get bogged down in my little world of tantrums, bribery, and failure (mine, not theirs!), and i start to feel very alone. i see the moms at the grocery store, the mall, and church who seem so put together. not a hair out of place. no flip-flops or mom uniform in sight. all the other moms seem to have everything in order, and i wonder what's wrong with me? am i the only mom who considers just getting to wal-mart a major accomplishment? am i the only mom who wonders if she's doing a good-enough job? does any other mom constantly feel like she's two steps behind? my twin-mom friend and i have this talk a lot. are we the only ones who just can't seem to get it together? how does everyone else do it? where are we going wrong? after talking a while, we try to convince ourselves that we're really no different from those moms. they may look like they have it together, but maybe they don't, either. their kids have fallen out of the car onto the church parking lot head-first on their watch, too, right? surely they bribe their kids with stickers just to get through the store like i do. and who hasn't parked their kids in front of the tv with a snack just so they could catch up with a friend over the phone? tell me i'm not the only one! i'm certainly no supermom. some days, i struggle just to be mediocre-mom. i don't think my kids mind, though. that's the great thing about our kids...they love us just the way we are. flaws and all! why can't we just accept ourselves the way we are?

4 comments:

Anna and the boys said...

You seem together in my opinion. No one is a supermom. Don't tell anybody that my boys will go for days sweaty without bathing. I feel that I always bribe Drew with food to get him to come with me.

Unknown said...

Leslie,
You are put together, you have two beatiful, sweet, kind and compassionate girls. They are so lucky to have you as a mom.....and I am even more lucky to have you as a friend. You are put together enough to know when a friend needs a phone call to encourage them and just to make them laugh! About the chicken nugget thing on the way home, I bet if I did a poll most people would say that they do it all the time....at least in my mind they do!

Anonymous said...

A great post. I have three-year old twin boys and can relate to your thoughts. We are in similiar boats...hang in there. I really liked the last statement...it made me think because I am so hard on myself. Thanks for being so honest.

~Valerie

Judy said...

I loved your thoughts and honesty!
It wasn't until I was in my early 30's that I really saw that there is really no one who isn't without flaw. It always appeared to me that everyone especially at church seemed to have it "together"... I feel that we are not "real" enough with each other.. I think by showing our faults we can really relate to one another and be who Christ calls us to be to each other. If we continually hide behind our Bibles and our cute outfits and smiles, we can't really be who God made us to be. Thanks for being honest!