Calling all 'Super Moms'! (PQW 12/1/10)

Are you a super mom? You know the kind. The ones with the absolutely spotless houses that they could actually perform surgery in...and then do. The ones with the children who look freshly ironed and scrubbed. Those mothers who cook perfectly balanced meals at absolutely every dining opportunity. Grow their own organic vegetables and have their own grass fed cows. Those who make the cookies from scratch, jelly from scratch, itch relief from scratch. Those women who work all day and then stay home all day; who never leave their children and who go on trips alone with their husbands. Those women who look beautiful all the time, in the most stylish clothes, yet never spend money on themselves. The women who dote on their families, yet volunteer at every single thing going on at church and school without feeling overwhelmed. Starting to sound a bit impossible, right? It is. But I’m only starting to realize that fact.

I’m the kind of mom who naturally lives at the other end of the pendulum swing. The one who has dog hair balls blowing across the floor at least every other day. I probably track in as much mud as my son, because there is a good chance we were splashing in the same puddle. I have no use for an iron because I own a dryer. I wasted time I’ll never get back trying to farm organic tomatoes. We’ll just say farming is not my giftedness. Neither is cooking. I find it ironic that now that I’m starting to need makeup to look awake, I don’t often have time to apply it. 

I struggle with trying to balance motherhood with wifehood and all of the other things that come along that demand my time. For almost 3 years now, I have made a valiant attempt to accomplish everything I thought I needed to do. This summer I even added training for a 5K to my list. That was a fateful decision that taught me a lot. First, I learned that I actually can run. Secondly, I learned that I am just too tired to do it. It was the straw that broke the back of the proverbial camel. I actually passed out at the grocery store due to exhaustion! Even my eye doctor told me I was too tired.

I have since taken off my “Super Mom” cape. I feel a lot better! I have dropped a few extracurricular activities and eased back into a much more enjoyable pace of life. I am discovering that I’m a better mom now than I was when I was “Super”! I learned about pacing myself while running and it has great life application off the track. It is much easier to learn to balance a few things than whole lot of things! Motherhood is a feat of endurance. Every family is different and has their own pace. Be sure to find yours before you are feet up in the pet food aisle!