From Mrs. Dav: “To You Mamas”
Hello there. My name is Laura and I am a mom to 4 awesome kids. They range from age 9 to 19. I love being their mom. It seems like forever ago that they were babies who would keep me up at night and cling to my hip during the day. I want to encourage you that once you get past that madness (ha!) you kind of forget about the crazy lack-of-sleep-mom look.
I want to give a shout out to those in the middle of infant/toddler stage. It is not easy. I say to many mommas “parenting is not for the weak at heart”. It really takes big girl pants.
This past week I was reminded how difficult it is to be a mama to littles. I had my sweet niece (13 months) for a couple of days (it’s been about 8 years since I had baby in the house). Anyway, her first night she woke up crying in the middle of the night. I did the usual: change diaper, comfort and lay back down with her paci. To which she protested (insert crying louder).
So, I went with the next option — bottle. She drank and. . . cried more. I waited to see if she would “give up”. She is a fighter (let me tell ya 😉). But I won. After some time of crying, (she was perfectly safe for those of you who think I’m mean. She had dry pants, been fed and a paci . . . oh, and her lovey) she finally realized she could give up and sleep.
As I came back to bed my husband said something humorous about the situation — we laughed and then I thought of all YOU. Mama warriors out there struggling to maintain “life”. Trying to remember the last time you had a solid night’s sleep. Trying to stay above water. On the verge of tears nearly all the time.
Trying to be the best mom, wife, employee, or boss-babe. It’s tough. You are doing it though! I want to encourage you that you CAN do it. Don’t beat yourself up. You have what it takes to be this human’s mama. This stage of mothering will pass, and it won’t feel so overwhelming or emotional (and you’ll get sleep!!!) You are charged with raising queens and kings and Jesus created you to be their momma!
Listen — it’s ok if the house isn’t cleaned up every day, or if dishes are in the sink, or your hair hasn’t been washed in a couple days. Give yourself a break and know that all of that will return. Hair, make-up, clean clothes and even dates. On that subject — dates . . .?! Ha! I know you feel you are not giving your best to your man right now.
Take a breath — a big breath. This is temporary. The stage of life you are in is not forever. It feels like it, but I promise it’s not. This is part of the “for better or worse” vow. Parenting littles is tough. Sure, they are cute and precious and smell yummy.
But they can’t tell us what hurts, they rely COMPLETELY on us for survival. They literally cannot survive without us (that’s a lot to carry!). So be patient with each other — give lots of grace. And then more grace.
Before you know it, you’ll realize you’ve made it. They feed themselves. They clothe themselves. They SLEEP ALL NIGHT.
So, cheers to you Rockstar Moms! You are killing it at the “mom thing”. Wake up and tell yourself this everyday until you believe it.
Praying for all you mommas, and your little people.
