The Mother Lying Awake

“I wish I had been more patient.”
“Is it my fault she’s starting to misbehave recently?”
“Dinner could have been healthier tonight…”
“Is he on-par with other toddlers his age?”
“I hope they don’t feel like I’m playing favorites…”
“With me working so much, are they getting the attention they need?”

The thoughts of a mother lying awake at night can be insurmountable, and often they all ultimately point back to the same question: “Am I good enough?”

Mothers, the next time your thoughts lead you to ask yourself this question, remember this:

Most likely you’re the first to rise in the morning, and you follow it up by getting the kids dressed and ready for the day, then surviving a long day on the job as a stay at home or a working mom, and when the day is closing you use the last bit of energy you have left to get the kids fed, bathed, and put to bed. After all of this, you finally have the last moments of the day for yourself…
If you’re spending any portion of these moments lost in the questions and thoughts about how you could have been better for your children, then you’re already well on your way to being just what they need from you.

None of us are, nor will we ever obtain the status of perfect mothers, but our children don’t need perfect for us to be enough.

A mother whose love for her children leads her to feel bad when she is human and loses her temper,
to consider how her own actions contribute to her children’s struggles and how she can help them,
to want the best for them physically, developmentally, and emotionally,
and especially to selflessly worry about these things in moments that are supposed to be reserved for “me-time”….well, that’s a mother who carries a love strong enough to penetrate selfishness, exhaustion, pride and all other barriers for the well-being of her child.
That is what they need.

The desire to want to be better for someone speaks volumes about how much they are valued in your life. As mothers we’ll have bad days, we’ll have moments when we’re hard on ourselves and wish we could do it all, and there will always be something we could have done better. But the love that drives us to want to be better for our children is what makes you a great parent because you don’t settle, and that will make an amazing difference in their lives.

They won’t see perfect, but they will see how valued they are, how you always wanted the best for them, and how you couldn’t give them the world but you gave your all to give them all you could. It won’t go unnoticed, and a parent who loves a child so deeply is truly invaluable.

So, to the mother who cares enough to lie awake at night wondering, rest assured that yes, you are absolutely enough. 💗

Wishing you a beautiful, memorable and cherished Happy Mother’s Day Weekend,