Hello! It’s your local Mom and Sister here and I want to be real with you for a moment. I have had a rough week! Honestly, I have felt so overwhelmed and filled with anxiety. Of course, I did try to pray and focus, but I just found it so difficult with everything going on. Being a parent is so hard and I often find myself questioning If I am doing the right thing. All I want is to raise my daughters to be strong, independent women of God – so, how do I know I am on the right track? Let’s come back to this…
My youngest little girl who is only 4 years old, is having the hardest time settling in at school and aftercare which means many traumatic mornings for both her and I in the school parking lot – always ending in tears for both of us. Immediately, I become filled with this guilt because I must go to work and send my baby to a place, she isn’t comfortable with as yet. I know that she just needs time to adjust as I was working from home before, but it’s still a horrible situation that I wish I didn’t have to deal with. With all this happening, my eldest of 6 years now fighting for my attention because I have been so focused on finding out the root of the problem with my youngest that I have probably not given her as much of my time as she needs and rightfully deserves. Right on queue – MOM GUILT!
It’s a vicious circle if you allow the guilt to control you, and I wasn’t about to let this happen so I was forced to snap out of it and be my own reminder that I am doing the best I can. I am a good mother. I want the best for my children and that us as parents are not doing this alone – God is with us every step of the way.
At the end of the day, I am human, which meant that I unfortunately lost my temper at times with my daughters and shouted at them, not because they deserved it, but because I was frustrated. My husband was the one that pointed out that all my eldest wanted in one situation was an explanation as to why I was saying “no” to something that she asked for. After I shouted at her, she, in tears, went to her dad and asked him why I was saying no to which he calmly explained the reason. She was happy with the answer he gave her and carried on playing with her Barbie’s. All she needed was a calm, rational and loving interaction from her parents to understand the situation. Where I lacked, my husband provided. Sometimes, you just need to see things from another perspective in order to fully understand something.
Later that day I heard the two girls shouting at each other during a quarrel over toys and that was when it truly hit me. They sounded just like me. The tone, the way they were shouting at each other… what have I done… This was the moment where I truly realized that I need to be a better role model to these little girls. Not for me, but for them. Because I want them to grow up into the best possible versions of themselves. I need to be more aware of what I say and do in front of my children and how I say and do them. Our children want to be just like us, they look up to us and admire us. Our little girls want to put on makeup and dress up because they see mommy doing it. Our sons play with tools because Daddy fixes broken things.
We are not just raising our children to be good people; we are grooming them for the Kingdom of God, and we need to be better at it. We must be better at it.
I recently read a quote that said “Your children will become what you are. So be what you want them to be.” Now let that sink in. Truer words have no one said. I want to be a good role model for my girls, and I want them to want to be a mother like me one day when they have their own children. It isn’t going to be easy, but I don’t have to raise these children alone. My husband and I will lean on Gods wisdom, His teachings and His grace because we are not just raising our daughters – we are raising Gods.
“Train up a child in the way of the Lord and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6
You’ve got this momma
All my Love
Nats
