I don't know why my brain is thinking in movie quotes these days. But yesterday was a rough day for me as a parent and I just couldn't stop hearing this line and this scene from Tommy Boy.
I think one of the hardest things for me as a parent is all the noise. Noise from my kids comes in different ways:The constant talking; the constant need for something- water, to be held, to play; the arguing; the toys...
Then there is the 'noise' I create. This comes in form of my 'to do' list. I will play with you when I finish___. I can help you with that after I am done____. I was going to read with you, but you kept interrupting my ____ with your arguing so now there is no time.
In addition to the noise, there is the comparing. Why must I compare myself to other mom's? To the mom whose daughter always looks so cute from her hair to her outfit. To the mom on facebook who got the best picture of her kids playing together outside in the sun yesterday. To the mom with the 'it won't be like this for long, so I'm just enjoying every moment' attitude.
And to think I would go as far as to write about this. There are BIGGER problems out there. But I can't help but think I'm not the only one. And that maybe there is another mom (or dad) out there today that needs to hear these words I read last night from the book, "More or Less" by Jeff Shinabarger:
You may think this post will be to share some story about my bad parenting- like Gabre getting an airplane bottle out of the freezer, drinking it, leading to an ER trip last Saturday. I have plenty of those. But this story is about grace. And how we forget sometimes when we talk about forgiveness that often the person we need to forgive is ourselves. It's about the need for all of us parents to give ourselves grace.
Parenting is so damn hard. Some days it is harder than others. Yesterday was one of those days. What I realize is I am an OK parent when I do it with Jimmy. He recognizes when I am about to lose it, and rescues me (rescues the kids?) by giving me some time alone. All you single parents out there, my hat is off to you. You are impressive.
 |
| Jimmy taking the kids to see the boats at the beach...one of those rescue times. |
Yesterday Jimmy was sick and so I was on my own. I said some bad things. I gave some mean looks. You could say, I was not at the top of my parenting game.
Then there is the 'noise' I create. This comes in form of my 'to do' list. I will play with you when I finish___. I can help you with that after I am done____. I was going to read with you, but you kept interrupting my ____ with your arguing so now there is no time.
In addition to the noise, there is the comparing. Why must I compare myself to other mom's? To the mom whose daughter always looks so cute from her hair to her outfit. To the mom on facebook who got the best picture of her kids playing together outside in the sun yesterday. To the mom with the 'it won't be like this for long, so I'm just enjoying every moment' attitude.
And to think I would go as far as to write about this. There are BIGGER problems out there. But I can't help but think I'm not the only one. And that maybe there is another mom (or dad) out there today that needs to hear these words I read last night from the book, "More or Less" by Jeff Shinabarger:
"I am me. And because no other person can be me, I am good enough. You be you. And because no other person can be you, you are good enough. We are better than enough".
Today I am thankful for the beauty of a new day. Thankful to recognize that I need grace. That I do need help in parenting. I will make mistakes. I will have other days like yesterday. But, I am good enough...and so are you.
No comments:
Post a Comment