
Honestly, moms, it is so hard to get away but so valuable to your mental health and gives you time to reflect on all the many blessings you have in the everydayness of your family.
If only I could go back and talk to the younger, much more stressed out me. I would remind that Pinterest-informed mamma of what she preached but fell short of practicing: those are all things that really don't matter. If anything, they’re more counterproductive than helpful: trying to have everything perfect stresses you out, and (even worse) can be a stumbling block for other moms, fueling feelings of inadequacy and intimidation.
"Moooooom, can we make a garden?" I am attempting to be less of a stress case mom, so my new answer is yes! Then I let them take ownership. This is always a cringe-worthy event. https://youtu.be/CbDCjHzd8AY
We cruise through Instagram and Facebook seeing all these adorable kids in their crisp new clothes holding a beautiful back-to-school sign that their mom stayed up until midnight hand-chalking. In part we do it for friends and family, to be sure. But part of the thought is that maybe they will want to see this someday, or someday I am not going to remember to tell them all about it. I guess it is a sort of photo-journaling the history of the child’s upbringing. But what was really behind the scenes of the picture?