It's interesting to analyze the way our mothering thoughts work. There are those times, where everyone is busy and I'm able to actually wash a floor and I have this whole schedule in my head and am knocking things off, and naps are running smoothly and kids are acting nicely and I feel on the top of the world. I can do this! I am supermom #1! Bring on the kids!
And then in the same day, bedtimes fall apart, baby's sleep habits go haywire, other children start waking up in the middle of the night, the dishes don't get done for a week straight (yeah that actually happens), the mess in the house gets knee-high (ok, that one doesn't happen) and my thoughts just tumble downwards. I'm a mess. I can't do this. I need help. No one is interested in listening to me. Nobody likes me. It's me against everyone else. I'm failing at this mothering business.
These thoughts can happen hours apart! I think what we need to do is take it moment by moment and stop thinking in the big picture all the time. Just because one night is crazy, it's not my fault! It doesn't make me horrible at everything! I can do the exact same things from one night to the next and the kids can be totally different. Really what it boils down to is that I'm not in charge.
Like I told my mother - He dishes it out slowly so we can handle it. She's babysitting for a niece and nephew of mine this week while the parents are in Florida. One day the kids woke up in the middle of the night and the bedtime routine took awhile and she was exhausted. The next night everything went smoothly, they ate well, went to sleep well and she felt amazing!
Just like when He gives us easy kids, hard kids, easy kids, hard kids and usually puts one challenging child out there at a time. So when I reach my breaking point and I feel only negative thoughts, I guess I should know it's only uphill from there. And I should look forward to feeling like supermom again in a few hours!
No comments:
Post a Comment