My job is hard.

This is something that has been on my mind for a while. Please no judgement! I love my daughter immeasurably, and I'm a good mom. But what you're about to read is honest and real.

Motherhood is hard. It doesn't matter if you're mothering one child, or five children- it's hands down the hardest job I have ever had! As a mother, you go in and out of different stages of parenting. There's the newborn stage where you're trying to guess what's wrong with them, and why they're crying. Sleepless nights make for a very tired mommy. There's the pre-toddler stage where they get into everything, and your house is no longer nicely decorated...it becomes child-proofed, which = boring and blah. There's the toddler stage (where I am right now) where they develop their personalities, can talk more and express their wants/dislikes, and are inconsistent with their behavior. There's clearly way more stages beyond what I've listed above, but I have not experienced them yet as a mom, so I won't go there.

For each mom, we experience these stages differently. Avery was an easy newborn/baby. I mean it...as easy as they come! She nursed beautifully, she started sleeping through the night at a month old, napped great, and took to a routine like a champ. Aaaaand everyone was right...'If she's this good as a baby, you know how she'll be when she's a toddler...?!' She has the strongest personality out of any ones kid I know (that sentence sounds strange, and I probably didn't write it grammatically correct, but oh well!), has a tremendous amount of energy, and has an iron will. She is also affectionate, sweet, has a stellar memory, and communicative. But altogether- she is a challenging child to parent. Not all the time, but most of the time. I try not to get frustrated and impatient with her, but it's hard!

Since resigning from my job as a teacher, and taking on the full-time stay at home mom status, I have really worked hard with Avery on her communication (manners, being polite, requesting what she wants without getting upset), and her behavior (not throwing toys, being gentle, simple hygiene, and doing what we ask the first time). I've seen a HUGE difference since being home with her full-time, and one of my friends, not even knowing she gave me the biggest compliment of my life said to me a month ago, 'Leah...I can totally tell she's home with you! She's being so good!' Ahhh- music.to.my.ears.

It's so easy as a mom to get caught up in what other moms and kids are doing, meeting/exceeding milestones, and performing in general. It's so unhealthy, and the speaker at our women's event at church last night said destructive! I compare (all the time), Avery to other kids her age and it's so unfair...to her, and to me!

The speaker last night said we need to reclaim the joy of motherhood and the first way to do that is to invite God into our role as parents. Not just here and there when it's easy, but all the time and throughout the day.

I don't want to miss out on loving and cherishing my role as a mother because I get frustrated or impatient. And I don't want to be a frazzled mom who is a mess. I want to teach Avery God's love for her, show her how much I (and her daddy) love her...no matter how many times she's played with her poop that day :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIRzGPT4t68