Is it just me, or has March been a discouraging month? With the changing of the seasons has also come some weariness about the things I haven’t figured out (or felt like doing) yet. Winter is an incredible season, but more time cozying up indoors can also bring stir-craziness, sickness, a messier home, family drama…and a few extra pounds around the middle 😬 It also feels like I
What a great post, Hope. The theme of my entire LIFE is "Mom isn’t falling apart" -- I rarely do extra things for my family (much less anyone else) that completely deplete me, because what's the point of that, exactly? -- but even I need this reminder when it comes to holidays. I do what I do because I enjoy it, but some years, I can't pull it off in the same way I have in the past or meet my own expectations, and it never feels good. After skipping the annual Easter egg hunt I host on our property last year because I was just too exhausted, this year I had the opportunity to ask myself if it was something I actually wanted to do again -- to spend the time, money, effort, and energy to do all the things that requires -- rather than just go ahead with it, on auto-pilot. It's hard when my kids -- and other kids in our life -- enjoy a tradition that I just can't make happen sometimes, because I feel like I'm letting them down, but I try to remind myself that if I do it enough years -- not necessarily *every* year -- that that's good enough. Making memories isn't about perfection (and neither is being a good mother, for that matter).
Traditions are so tricky. But there’s nothing that says tradition can’t change, even if you’re the one who originally came up with them.
And as for guilt, your earlier post about phone addiction spurred me on to deal with that particular guilt. I’ve set some parameters around my phone usage and I’m happy to say I’ve had a huge decrease in my screen time. Thank you for your encouragement!
What a great post, Hope. The theme of my entire LIFE is "Mom isn’t falling apart" -- I rarely do extra things for my family (much less anyone else) that completely deplete me, because what's the point of that, exactly? -- but even I need this reminder when it comes to holidays. I do what I do because I enjoy it, but some years, I can't pull it off in the same way I have in the past or meet my own expectations, and it never feels good. After skipping the annual Easter egg hunt I host on our property last year because I was just too exhausted, this year I had the opportunity to ask myself if it was something I actually wanted to do again -- to spend the time, money, effort, and energy to do all the things that requires -- rather than just go ahead with it, on auto-pilot. It's hard when my kids -- and other kids in our life -- enjoy a tradition that I just can't make happen sometimes, because I feel like I'm letting them down, but I try to remind myself that if I do it enough years -- not necessarily *every* year -- that that's good enough. Making memories isn't about perfection (and neither is being a good mother, for that matter).
My favorite part was the quote at the bottom "Love is the Best Tradition."
Traditions are so tricky. But there’s nothing that says tradition can’t change, even if you’re the one who originally came up with them.
And as for guilt, your earlier post about phone addiction spurred me on to deal with that particular guilt. I’ve set some parameters around my phone usage and I’m happy to say I’ve had a huge decrease in my screen time. Thank you for your encouragement!
I love this! Guilty of guilt, specifically mom guilt.