Reflections of a New Mom | Mommy Guilt

{originally published in 2012}   Please tell me I’m not alone in feeling some (if not all) of the following statements throughout the course of a normal {mommy} day? “I’m just not doing enough.” “If only I could be like __________.” “What if __________?” “(Insert your child’s name) isn’t like (insert a friend’s child’s name)! Is it because of something I’ve done?” “I really should do__________, __________ and __________.” As these questions go round and round in my head, I start feeling discouraged and eventually come down with a serious case of Mommy Guilt.  Can you relate?! Even with great resources like Stacy’s The Mommy Truth blog post and a good grasp of God’s amazing grace, I still continue to find myself feeling guilty about what I’m doing (or not doing) as a mom. Thankfully, I have a handful of very Godly girlfriends who are willing to speak truth into my life when I most need it.  These days the truth that has given me the most freedom in this adventure called motherhood is simply the permission to let go of my guilt and cut myself some slack. Don’t we all just need to be given permission (by anyone really) to relax a little bit? So although I’m new in this motherhood journey I thought I’d do my part and give YOU, my mommy comrade, permission to do any (if not all) of the following things…

• Take a Nap
• Let your kids watch TV
• Go on a Date (yes – that means you have permission to get a sitter)
• Breastfeed or not.  Does it really matter in the end?!
• Take an Adults-Only Vacation (with your hubby or girlfriends)
• Leave dusting for another day
• Don’t do any of your Pinterest pins.  Really…there’s no reason to feel guilty how you’re not like Susie Homemaker, who makes her own yogurt and then pins it on Pinterest.
• Order in Take-Out
• Get a pedicure
• Say “No” to that school/church volunteer need
• Let your kids jump on the bed
• Buy that pricey pair of heels you’ve had your eyes on (and wear them…on previously mentioned date)
• Read a fiction book
• Leave the dirty dishes till the morning
• Eat ice cream for dinner
• Stay in your PJ’s till noon sometimes
• Go with your gut instinct about what your child needs versus listening to every “expert”
• Not sign your child up for every activity
• Not make your child complete that ridiculous homework assignment
• Not attend your bible study friend’s daughter’s birthday on Sunday afternoon
• Not donate a dollar to the children’s hospital every time you check out at the supermarket
• Pay full price for that box of diapers for the sake of convenience
• Buy bread at the CircleK
• Fall asleep in front of the TV
• Watch CSI

Now go my friend and throw away the guilt that so easily engulfs us as moms.  God promises us life – and life in abundance! Your children are going to “rise up and call you blessed” because of the way you loved them, laughed with them and played with them, not whether you had a perfectly clean house and baked your own bread. Their childhood goes by too fast to let guilt cripple you and steal your joy!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” – Hebrews 12:1