Do you ever wonder why it is that moms aren’t more honest with one another? Why we continue to act as though nothing ever bothers us, that our homes are photograph-ready at all times, our children are perfect angels, our skin is flawless, and we’ll all sit down to a 5-course dinner tonight that will of course be magnificent.
It’s not doing any of us any good. We know that, right? Don’t we?
We can feel it, when the weight of everything pulls us deeper and deeper into ourselves. We feel so alone. No one else ever feels like this. I know, because I see the photos of their amazing life. I see the inspirational quotes that sum up all the goodness that they have that I don’t.
No matter how happy we are, on a difficult day, even the best mom can feel that she isn’t good enough and everyone but her has it all together. She’ll think it’ll never be any better than it was today. She’ll forget, at least for the time being, all the wonderful days and dwell only on the moments she doesn’t think she’ll make it to bedtime. She’ll wonder why she can’t manage to keep her household like everyone else does, and with a smile!
I’ve felt all of those things, over and over. I only have two kids, how am I struggling so much? Look at her, she has five kids and look how much fun they have! I stay home all day and my house isn’t clean – how does she do it, working full-time?
Moms, we (I) have got to stop comparing ourselves (myself) to others. And I think we do that by sharing our real world with the people around us. There’s something to be said for the camaraderie of knowing that so-and-so down the street fed her kids hot dogs for the third night in a row, just like you. And seeing that what’s-her-name across town is just as paranoid about her kids acting up in public.
Today’s Reality Challenge is to thank someone in your life for being real with you about their struggles. I hope you all have someone in your life who doesn’t sugarcoat things, who gently tells you the truth, and always helps encourage you to be a better person. And if you don’t have that kind of person in your life…I challenge you to today’s Super Challenge — be that person for someone else.
It helps, knowing someone else has been there or is there with you, dealing with the same stuff. That even if it looks like everyone else is breezing through life, there’s at least someone else who is struggling alongside of you. It helps to lighten your load and make the hard days more bearable. You never know how close someone is to the end of their rope and sharing your real life with another mom might add a few more feet to the end of her rope.
Thank you for what you’ve done in the comments, on the Facebook Page and Twitter, and on your own personal pages. Thanks for accepting The Reality Challenge and being real this week. You’ve made this mom feel less alone and that goes a long way.
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About Krista
