Mediocre Mothering

I read a popular "mommy blog" the other day.  She had great writing, a funny topic, and was completely relatable. But that smart, savvy, writer mom dropped the *f-word* three times in her blog post. Three! And it made me very sad. Not because I know her or even know anything about her, but because I didn't understand why.

Don't get me wrong. It's not like I've never heard the word before. I may have even said it before, so I'm not judging.  I just think motherhood deserves more. We should be in awe every single day of the gift we have in our kids, and show motherhood a little more respect.

Another popular Christian blogger recently blogged about her failings as a mom, and how she "used to care." She's tired. And I SO get that, because I am exhausted and she has more kids then I do. But I can't stop feeling that motherhood is sacred.

Then we post funny graphics like the one in this post, and we all laugh. Because "keeping the kids alive" is the new standard. When did we embrace mediocrity in motherhood?  It likely all started innocently enough. Someone pulled down the veil behind us trying to achieve perfection -and failing every single time - and shared that they were messing up. And we all breathed a sigh of relief, because we could relate!

But somehow the sharing of our failures stopped being about encouraging each other to keep striving for the good, and became an acceptance of mediocre mothering. And I think it's time to stop. Because our kids deserve better. (Click to tweet this.)

I mess it up sometimes. I forget to send in items to school. I forget to check the homework folder. I yell at my kids. I mess up and I feel bad about it...because I never forget how important I am to my kids. And how important they are to me. 

Motherhood can be hard...almost every single day! But there are so many women with empty arms and hearts who would readily dive right into my situation and take it over. I can't forget that. They'd love to have one "hard" day with kids, then all the hard days without them.

And so I mess up, and I get up, and I keep striving to do better.  I'll never be perfect, but I refuse to accept mediocrity. Because I am a mom. I'll never forget what a precious gift that truly is.

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.

Psalm 127:3

Kelly Combs is a Christian wife, mom, writer and speaker. You can learn about Kelly by visiting her website at www.kellycombs.com