Fundus Rotundus - A Well-Rounded Motherhood

You may not feel awesome when... You're covered in gurp. You haven't had a full night's sleep in over a year. You didn't shower today. You have to suck baby boogers every day. But, you are awesome, even if you're not in your most glamorous moment. Women in general, and mothers, especially, we are capable of incredible feats! Just because one woman can go on a daily run, but you instead go on a daily coffee run - that doesn't make you less awesome. You know that, right? Just because another mother cooks three homemade meals every day, but you can only manage one, that doesn't make you less awesome. Stop comparing. Start appreciating yourself. So, maybe you don't run every day, but maybe you come up with fun crafts for your kids. Maybe you don't cook, but you come up with creative ways to make salads. So many salads... Technically chips and salsa are a salad, right? ... right? Maybe you're not a career person, but you always mana...

While planning what to write next, I realized how entrenched, and often unquestioned, motherhood ideals are. My thoughts of what a mother is "supposed" to be. Are those my own thoughts? Is that who I am as a mother? This external judgement criteria - where is it coming from? I was in the doctor's office when my son was a couple of weeks old. The doctor asked me how I was doing. I had to be honest. I was stressed - and not because of my son. He was just a baby being a baby with his needs and nothing more. I was stressed because I was looking for answers from others, and for validation that I was a good mother. But everything I read or heard was a critique. I realized that no matter what I did, according to someone, it wasn't enough according to someone else. I told her, "I just want to be his mother! I don't care about all the rules I'm supposed to follow. I just want him to know that I love him and be the best mother I can be. But there are so many ru...