To All The Mamas - You are ENOUGH

YOU. ARE. ENOUGH!!!


Read that again and let it sink in a little more - you are ENOUGH!

I ALWAYS struggle with believing this. I always have. Why? Because I let people get to me when I shouldn't. I let people make me feel like I'm not enough. I let people's words hurt me and I let the judgment in WAY too much.


The following questions are to be read in a condescending tone - - -


"You're JUST a mom, you don't work?" - hell yes I work, have you ever raised tiny humans FULL TIME, all day, every day?! That's a job in itself. Along with being a chef, a caretaker, and more! And when you aren't with them, you are CONSTANTLY worrying about if they are safe, if they remembered to bring the coat you told them to get when they go outside, etc.


"You HOMESCHOOL your kids?!" - abso-freakin-lutely! This was by far one of the best decision we have EVER made! Not that it makes any difference, because I believe that if you have the passion and the work ethic to make it happen, you don't need a college degree, but mine just happens to be focused on Elementary Education/Early Childhood Development so it only made complete sense to use the skills I have to teach my own children and focus all my attention on them. It is by far one of the most frustrating but INCREDIBLY rewarding things I've ever done in my life! I believe that because of my degree, I have so much more knowledge to bring to the table for my kids. I'm so thankful for that. I know I don't have a paying job related to my degree, but what better way to use my degree??!! I know many that have high school diplomas and homeschool their children. They are just as WONDERFUL at it. For me personally, I believe that my degree made me better and I'm so thankful for it. I know I could have done this without it, but I'm better because of it.


"Aren't you worried about being responsible for their ENTIRE education?" - Well, OF COURSE! But what teacher isn't?!?! I'm not any less worried than a teacher that teaches in a public/private school.


"What do you do all day?" - well....this one makes me laugh because I always joke around with people and "dare" them to ask me what I do all day because they will get "an ear full" HAHAHA!


But here's a peak into one of my busiest days:


Wake up, get the kids settled so I can make breakfast, while the kids eat breakfast I do the dishes and get a load of laundry started, once breakfast is done the kids start getting ready for the day and do daily chores. Then, we head out the door to take our oldest to her lab classes while they eat a snack that I scramble to put together that they can eat in the car. We get back from dropping her off, the littlest kiddo gets sat down for lunch and while she is eating I get another load of laundry started, sit down at the computer to do as much as I can for my two businesses, try to drink a cup of coffee, and if I'm not at the computer I'm sewing to complete outstanding orders. An hour and a half later, we are back out the door to get big sister, come home, shove another snack in the kids then it's out to ballet class. Once ballet class is over we head home to cook/eat dinner, then get the kids ready for bath/bed. While Daddy is doing the bedtime routine I'm back downstairs finishing the laundry, cleaning up from making dinner, following up on businesses, picking up anything left over that the kids missed from clean up and then once Daddy is done with the bedtime routine I run upstairs to say my goodnights, then head back downstairs to spend some time with my husband.


That is just the bare minimum of what my busiest day looks like and I did leave a lot of little things out. Then there are one or two days where I do absolutely NOTHING like mentioned above because I usually give the kids one entire day a week to determine what we do for the day (within reason - I'm not about to go to the park when it's POURING down rain haha). There are days where I never get a shower, there are days where the house looks like a war zone because I needed a mental break and decided to craft or sew for me or be creative somehow. Is there a balance? Sure there is. I'm also NOT superwoman (which was hard to realize) and when I focus on my two businesses, house chores get neglected. When I focus on house chores, I don't do a single business related thing. If I have a day where it's 110% focused on the kids, both the businesses and the chores get neglected! I CANNOT do it all, ALL the time. No one should ever be expected to be able to. If I did, I would be a complete, overworked, unhappy MESS!


"Shouldn't your house always be clean since you're a stay at home mom?" - I'm just gonna sit here and laugh at this one because normally someone that asks me this, doesn't have kids that are still at home or any at all ;-)

These are just a VERY small fraction of the questions that I face and what other mother's face way too often. Whether you are a stay at home mom, a full time working mom, or something in between, any of these kinds of questions are HIDEOUS!

I came across this video on Facebook. It had the PERFECT timing! It is well worth the 6 plus minutes to watch it. Here's the link to the video:

Jon Acuff - Dear Moms - You're Enough


I will admit straight off the bat that this made me cry like a blubbering idiot! When we make decisions for our family, we make them with 110% confidence based on the information and experiences we have on hand. Do these decisions work for any other family? Maybe, but that doesn't mean it is RIGHT for EVERY other family. Period. I may be starting to sound like a broken record but it is NO ONE ELSE'S business what decisions people make for their families. Stop judging parents. Just because you don't think it's right, doesn't give you the right to make others feel like crap or less than amazing. Agree to disagree, respect it and move on!

Things that stood out to me most in Jon Acuff's video were:

1. We are raising tiny humans!
2. We are not super heros!
3. WE ARE ENOUGH!
4. We only get ONE shot with our kids.


I am a wife, a mother of two small humans, an owner of TWO businesses, a stay at home mom, and a homeschooling mom. Like I mentioned above, I've NEVER been able to do all of these all at once, all the time. Did I ever beat myself up for not being able to do it, YES! This is where I had to stop letting people/media tell me I wasn't good enough if I couldn't do it all. When I did, I was not the person I wanted to be. I yelled at my kids, I was stressed all the time thinking about the things that I didn't get done that I "should" have. I really had to refocus. I had to start setting hours for when I worked my two businesses, I had to make myself understand that I'm a MOM - that is a HUGE responsibility. It was up to me to decide what kind of mom I wanted to be. Did I want to be the mom that they see constantly running around, stressed, overworked? NO! I want to be the mom that they remember playing with them, creating with them, having FUN with them. I still struggle with that last one a bit because I'm wired to constantly keep moving. It's a learning process every day!

What I love most about Jon's video is he really hits the key point about social media making mom's think they are no good and mom's that start to compare their children to others. I'm a very firm believer that kids NEED to work at their own pace. It is crucial because once you start pressuring them to do things they are not developmentally ready for or ready to do on their own, you will slowly watch their light fade. Our job as a parent is to nurture that little flame into a roaring fire. We are here to guide them, support them and keep them safe with their learning and adventures. Do I have moments of weakest - HA! You betcha! All the dang time. We need to stop letting the media be so poisonous to us. If WE feel good about what we are doing, THAT is what matters the most. WE ARE ENOUGH.


We need to see more people out there like Jon Acuff acknowledging that mom's are ENOUGH.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm always beating myself up. Jon's video was a perfect reminder that I AM enough. Will I continue to struggle with the idea, yes, I'm human. Mom guilt is always the worst haha! Do I hope that all you mom's start to realize how amazing you are and how ENOUGH you are? SO MANY MILLION TIMES YES! Each and every one of us are doing the best we can and we are ALLOWED to have "off" days. We are ALLOWED to have amazing days and not be expected to have amazing days all the time. We are enough. WE.ARE.ENOUGH! <3 br="">
Thank you all for taking the time to read this and I hope it helped you as much as it helped me today! <3 p="">