“You make it look easy.”

“You look so put together.”

“I’m impressed with how you (insert thing I am doing).”

While I am flattered that people think that I am rocking this whole mom thing, I promise you there are moments where I am barely making it.

There was a day last week that I had to lock myself in the bathroom because I was so angry at George who was being a freaking tornado. I raised my voice to match his energy a few times throughout that day.

Let me also tell you that we really struggle with getting George to eat. For real, he is THE worst at meal time and exhibits all the typical toddler behavior of changing his mind and being picky. Most days I feel like a failure because his dinner consisted of raisins and a slice of cheese (or last week it had to be shredded cheese).

However, I don’t want to talk about THOSE moments. I want to talk about the strength that being a mom gives you. I want to appreciate the all the small wins I have throughout the day (even if it is only one teeny win).

I am pretty impressed with myself with this transition to two children.

When I think about the things that we do as moms, it really is undeniable that we are some pretty BA people.

I have survived on 3 hours of sleep because kids don’t understand quiet time.

I have managed to get both kids in and out of the car while running errands and kept them both alive by myself.

At least once a day I am carrying both children.

George gets his teeth brushed every day. He turns into the Hulk when the toothbrush comes out, so the fact that I can tame him enough to get those things clean is a miracle.

I still am reading George his bedtime stories even though Daphne is taking on the bewitching hour like she is trying out for the role of a banshee on the show Charmed.

I know the difference between excavator and a backhoe which means I have spent a million hours reading books and watching YouTube videos about the various trucks and tractors in the world and looked like I was interested for the sake of my son.

Anytime I am wearing Daphne, I feel like I can take on the world.

I have held Daphne breastfeeding with one hand while assisting George with bathroom things with the other. (I seriously thought I was Hercules for this feat).

 

Come to think of it, I can do a lot of things with one hand that previously needed two.

Also breastfeeding. This time around I am not dreading it, so I call that a win.

I think that we often compare what we are doing with our kids with other moms. Then we just see what we “aren’t doing well.” We all are doing amazing things though, and that shouldn’t be overshadowed by what other parents are doing. If I only thought about how poorly George eats dinner, I would be really upset all the time about this Mom gig. (He eats really well every other meal by the way. It’s just dang dinner.) We have to give ourselves a break and take in the compliments that we are doing a good job with these little humans.

I think that we as moms are really bad at taking compliments. We don’t want to seem cocky or that we are better than other moms. But we should feel proud of ourselves. We should marvel at the wins we get throughout the day no matter how small they are. I high five myself every morning when I get both kids in the car dressed.

We are getting these tiny little tornadoes where they need to be and helping them grow into decent human beings instead of actual tornadoes. Maybe we don’t have it together all the time, and that’s ok. I am sure though that we are all doing things that our previous selves would be impressed by or never imagined that we were capable of. Us moms have the kind of determination to get things done and make things happen. I am impressed every day by women out there and what they are doing for their littles.

So thanks for those that have been hurling those comments my way. I do appreciate them, and it’s what we do right? We get it done. Sometimes gracefully, and other times we are hoping there is at least one more box of raisins to get us through to the next meal. We just have to carry these angels as far as we can in whatever way we can manage.

We carry them because we are strong as mothers.

What are your strong mom moments?