I want to say something that I often need to hear from others when I'm feeling like I am at my wits end and all alone in this wild ride called motherhood:
There is no such thing as Supermom.
I think I’m a pretty together person, but I would never consider myself a Supermom, and I’m going to throw myself under the bus here and tell you why.
Lets start out with the house:
My house is a mess. There are dishes in my sink and laundry piled up, both ready to be folded and ready to go into the wash. My floors need to be vacuumed and mopped, and don't even ask me what my toilets and showers look like. I am currently sitting in a room littered with cereal crumbs and dried up Play-dough, at a desk cluttered by water bottles, an empty coffee cup, and a plate from lunch.
Then, there are the kids:
There are days when I beat myself up that I didn't spend enough time with my kids, or that I yelled too much and didn't have enough patience. There are days when I stick Colby in front of movie after movie because I am just so darn tired.
My insane ball of energy (a.k.a. High Spirited Child) is a great kid, but there are some days when he gets under my skin. I always love him, but there have been many instances in the recent past when it has taken all of my energy not to eat my young. (This was the phrase Kendra used, and it is so relevant, I had to borrow it.) I can tell myself “This too shall pass” until I’m blue in the face, but the fact of the matter is this: When I am in those situations where my kid is throwing tantrums, screaming, hitting, and otherwise resembling a mental patient, there is no “shall pass,” there is only right now. In my mind, I cannot think past what is happening at that precise moment. In those moments, I am definitely not Supermom, I am merely hanging by my fingernails for dear life, hoping it will all be over soon.
There’s also nutrition:
I always have the intention to make wonderful, healthy meals for my family every night, but to be quite honest, there are weeks when we eat so much take-out, that I'm pretty sure McDonalds’ stock sees a significant jump. Colby has gone record-holding stints of only eating microwaved nuggets and corn, and I’m just happy that there’s at least a veggie included in that meal.
I have this image that I am going to stay in shape and have an awesome figure. Yes, I have been losing weight, and I hope to tone up a bit, but I’m never going to have that body back that I had in high school. After all, I did put myself through the body-mutilating process of pregnancy twice so far. I’m not going to look exactly the same again and that’s okay because I have beautiful kids to show for it! (Even if they do drive me nuts sometimes.)
I write this because I think more moms out there need to know that they aren’t alone in their world. We all have messy houses most of the time (and in my case, pretty much all the time). We all want to run far, far away from our kids when they are acting like maniacs. We have stretch marks and doughy mid-sections and thighs. We don’t shave our legs regularly, and sometimes we don’t even shower regularly either. We sometimes eat way too much pizza and hamburgers, because we can’t stand the thought of making another dinner. And ya know what? It’s okay! Ya know why?
There is no such thing as Supermom!
