Here's a shout-out to all those mothers doing the right things, saying the right things, and maintaining One Tough Mother non-negotiables...
You're Fabulous!
You're the Best!
You're making a difference!
You're...well, you're weary aren't you?
Yep, I thought so.
Saying "no" time and time again (even though you know you're right) can wear you down.
Choosing to show up in your child's life and maintaining "I'm the Mom" authority and leadership (even though you'd prefer to check out, sit yourself on the couch, grab a bag of Lay's Sour Creme and Onion, and turn over to 'Scott Baio's 45 & Single') can wear you down.
And going to bed each evening knowing you get to do it all again, well, as guilty as we may feel to admit, it can wear you down.
I don't really have any magic solutions to all the OTM reality but I will share this with you...
It's worth it and you're not the only mom worn out and ready to wave the white flag!
That's why we need one another. That's why we have this place to come to--24/7--to find a respite from the day-to-day monotony of being present. That's why I wrote One Tough Mother.
To encourage you to stay with it because twenty years down the road--you won't regret what you did right. (You may regret the disproportionate amount of white hair growing on your head but that's another issue--that's another blogsite.)
Twenty years from today you will look back on all those times you stood firm.
Twenty years from today your children will remember a smidgen of the words you spoke, but you, One Tough Mother, will never regret the infinite amount of love, actions, responsibility, and grace, your being present in their lives poured into their lives.
Isn't it Proverbs that says "train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it"?
ReplyDeleteGo all you OTM's! Train those children, NOW! And tomorrow they will honor you.
Great site, Julie! From one tough mother to another!
ReplyDelete