Because what I AM good at, is reading books to my children every morning while they eat their breakfast.
And taking them to the beach and jumping in the waves with them.
I dance with them to the soundtrack from Moana and The Lion King, 450 times a day.
I throw them in the air and bounce them on my knee until they erupt in laughter.
And I get up at night, every single time they wake, and snuggle them until they feel safe and calm again, and are able to fall back to sleep.
I’m good at these things.
They just don’t look as pretty on an Instagram feed as clean shelves and colour-coded wardrobes.
We have a tendency in motherhood to think that we’re failing when we do something differently to other people.
We automatically assume that OUR way, is the WRONG way.
We need to remind ourselves that we all have strengths. Those strengths just lie in different areas for different people.
We need to remind ourselves that we all have strengths. Those strengths just lie in different areas for different people.
Your kids had too much screen time today?
You didn’t cook up the perfect meals?
Or get them to some outlandish activity?
Or clean to within an inch of your life?
It doesn’t matter. One bit.
Instead of focusing on all the things we’re convinced we’re getting wrong, how about we just stop?
Stop telling ourselves we’re failing.
Stop telling ourselves we’re not good enough.
And instead, look at the faces of our children, which are filled with love and admiration for all the things we ARE getting right.
Try to see what they see.
A mother filled with love, doing her very best, in her very own way.
I’d take that over a perfect Instagram feed any day.
Samantha Johnson is a writer, mother and fan of facts, fiction, feminism and families. You can find more of her articles over at The Huffington Post and follow her on Twitter. Make sure to follow her Samantha Johnson Storyteller Facebook page.
