Your Children Want You (or, Quit Trying To Be A Super Mom Because That's Not What Your Kids Want)

Found a few really sweet posts and just wanted to share them with you. Posts about being a Mom.
The thing I liked about these posts is taking a hard look at what mothering really should be. About fighting that need to be a Super Mom and have everything perfect. Because that's damned hard work and no one needs to be under that kind of pressure. And when is this Super Mom supposed to enjoy life, anyway?

So this back-to-basics mothering, it sounds very simple really. Just be there for your kids. Laugh with them. Play with them. Sing with them. Cry with them.

When you are with them, just.be.with.them.

Sometimes this gets lost in all that effort to be a great mom. Perhaps we are all just working to damned hard at it? (Me?? Work too hard at something?? Huh?)

THIS POST, by blogger April Perry sums it up nicely:

"Can we remind each other that it is our uniqueness and love that our children long for? It is our voices. Our smiles. Our jiggly tummies. Of course we want to learn, improve, exercise, cook better, make our homes lovelier, and provide beautiful experiences for our children, but at the end of the day, our children don’t want a discouraged, stressed-out mom who is wishing she were someone else."

Isn't that sweet? I disagree with her on the jiggly tummy part, but other than that, I think April is dead on. I also really loved THIS POST at Toddler Approved where the bloggstress Kristina turns away from her Super Mom aspirations, and instead focuses on being a good mom. Number 3 on her list has me thinking:

Be still. Cuddle, read books, just sit in the room with them and "be" there- unplugged and present. We have been doing this a lot this week and undoubtedly every ten minutes or so my daughter comes over and randomly hugs me. It is the most precious thing ever and it is almost like a spiritual experience for me because I just feel like I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing right then in that moment. It feels awesome.

Um, yeah. I'm always in motion. And so is my boy. I'm thinking some stillness would be a good thing in our house.

And for other mothers out there, just in case you need a bit of encouragement on those rough days, THIS POST is a sweet reminder that this mothering bit is really tough and a really important job!