On the heels of Mothers Day, I feel compelled to write about parenting, children and motherhood for all my moms out there. The job as a mother requires many things. And only on Mothers day do we really get to see and hear about all the wonderful and disgusting things we do.
Yesterday, as I read a friend’s post on facebook detailing the job of a mother from her eyes I began to feel proud, tired and a urge to laugh all at the same time. As moms, the job we do can sometimes get overshadowed by other “more important things” and just life in general. It is my desire to be the best mom that I can be. Throughout the years I’ve heard many moms discuss parenting and how they just go with the flow sometimes. When we became parents, we were not given a parenting manual before we left the hospital with our newborns. A manual that lists all possible scenarios and the next steps to take. Some mothers grew up without a mother and didn’t have anything to emulate. How are these individuals to parent? Is it by trial an error? Some had great mothers but somehow it’s still not clicking because it can sometimes be overwhelming. Often you feel like you are missing the mark especially when we are striving to be super-mommy. The goal is to be the best mom that YOU can be.
This job as a parent (as a mother especially) in which we don’t get trained for is yet one of the most important jobs on the planet. That is raising respectful, God-fearing, polite, smart, considerate (and the list goes on) children. One exercise I found to be very useful for me was to set my goals for parenting. I asked myself thought-provoking questions like, “What things do I desire for my children?” and “How do I envision my children to be in order for me to feel as though I did my “job” well?”
So I challenge you moms to make a list of what values and morals you’d like to instill in your children. Write down your end-result. Then have check-ins to see if what you are doing today will produce your desired result down the line. Sure, I’ve done this for other things in life but for parenting???? Well this was life changing for me because it caused me to tune in more and to be more focused.
I know a lot of times we do things because that is what was done to us but we really need to have a parenting plan. Then take it a step further by having periodic check-in times to assess where we are and if we are meeting the mark or not. When I did this exercise and did my first check-in, I was shocked. I thought “I’m way off” but I had to tell myself no need to get discouraged just make adjustments this is the reason why I am doing this. It does get easier as you go along but please don’t become discouraged early on.
I challenge each of you whose eyes read this post to try this one exercise I promise it will be one of the best things you’ve done for both yourself and for your children.
If you have anything to add or any additional suggestions of things that have specifically worked for you as a parent please do comment so we can all grow!
Stay Blessed!
Syreeta
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