Re-imagine Motherhood
When I had my son, a well meaning family member gave me a beautifully illustrated book filled with pictures of mothers having blissful moments with their children – reading to them, laughing and playing in the yard, and rocking them gently on a rocker while the sunlight perfectly landed on mother and child (who was sleeping soundly).
Between the ideal and my own childhood, I landed in motherhood with a reactive heart, wondering when the sunlight was going to beam on me, and struggling to understand the intensity of every day.
I bet you’re not far off most days.
Somewhere between the ideal and the real, we hustle (hard!) and most days we’re grateful when it’s 10pm.
What we most need is to reimagine motherhood that reflects our hopes, past, childhood, and, oh yeah, our children and who they are in the world.
We need to give ourselves permission to say, “You know what? That 60’s model (or 70’s or 80’s) doesn’t work for me. Neither does any family model around me.” And decide right then and there to re-imagine motherhood for ourselves.
Here are three ways to get started:
1) What are the things you EXCEL at and really do well in the motherhood arena?
2) What’s one thing you just WANT to rock but feel it’s not “motherly”? Do that.
3) What’s a picture of your family in a year from now – what are they doing, etc.? What do you need to be/ do that will create that? (PS, I will bet a million chocolate bars you’re not that far off.)
We all suffer from holding ourselves to standards that exist in moments. But those moments of motherhood that are like bright flashes that we see others have rarely hold past 6:30pm dinner. Let’s all take a permission card and re-imagine motherhood in a way that most reflects who we are and who our families are. THAT’S where the fun, connection and memories of this season really live – that’s our true motherhood calling.
So take a few minutes and re-imagine motherhood then share below one thing you’re keeping around because you rock it: