Are you on the never ending search for balance in motherhood?
Maybe you are like me.
You are a mom.
You are in the trenches of motherhood with little people to keep alive, plus, All. The. Things. to manage every day.
It’s a lot.
It’s overwhelming.
It’s wonderful.
It’s stressful.
It’s beautiful.
Here is the thing about motherhood…. It is always throwing you for a loop!
You finally get through the infant stage to get to the toddler stage and the potty training stage and the three-nanger stage, and then pre-schooler stage, and on and on it goes.
Just when you think… “Hey… I am getting the hang of this!”
BAM!!! Your kid gets some strange rash and doesn’t sleep for daaaaaayyyyyysss!
I am almost ten years and six kids into motherhood. I have experienced miscarriages, c-sections, high-risk pregnancies, normal pregnancy, premature babies, foster care, adoption, and twins.
And I feel like a Rookie Mom most of the time.
I firmly believe that whether you have one child or twelve (God bless you if you do!), you are a warrior and I have no doubt that you are working on figuring out this whole balance thing.
Let me be just be a little negative right now…. Okay?
My pessimistic sounding statement is “You will NEVER arrive at balance in motherhood.”
I know, I know…You are thinking… Why the heck am I even reading this article if you are going to be so ridiculously gloomy on this whole subject????
My intention is not to give you no hope. Rather to encourage you to find an aspiration and belief in the Journey of Motherhood.
Think of someone walking a very thin balance beam.
You see them with their arms out,
adjusting at every step to find equilibrium,
constantly moving forward,
sometimes taking it fast
and other times slowing way down.
I picture the face of my Jimmy (J2) the first time he attempted to walk a balance beam at gym class.
My little buddy has always been a stocky fellow and always growing faster then his motor skills can keep up!
He looked at that beam and took a deep breath and began his journey across.
His arms flailed about sometimes.
He stumbled quite a bit.
His resolve wavered a few times.
His trek across the balance beam was not easy and in fact quite awkward looking.
It was not the same as the child who went before him.
BUT, HE DID IT!
He didn’t give up. He kept going and he heard his momma cheering for him the entire way!
This. This is what balance in motherhood looks like.
We step onto the balance beam of motherhood with untested skills, excitement, uncertainty, determination, and maybe even a little fear.
From the moment your little one was placed in your arms you started adjusting, moving forward, sometimes stumbling, other times moving so fast you wondered how you got this far.
There is not a blanket answer for the quest and never ending search for finding balance in motherhood.
BUT….
There is encouragement and love and cheering on from the moms around you.
You got this!
You can get through this phase.
Deep breaths. Find your footing.
Cry. Scream. Laugh.
Find joy in the present moment that you are on this beautiful balance beam of motherhood.
And hey… If you are really, really over this phase… Just remind yourself that it will change so quickly.
Find yourself another mom who will listen to you vomit your emotional distress all over and not bat an eye. Because she is feeling the exact same way!
HAPPY SURVIVAL OF MOTHERHOOD,
KEIKILANI
Mutual stress venting is the best thing you can find in a mom friend. Motherhood is SO hard, especially when you’re trying to balance home life and your hustle.
I appreciate this post. I work from home with a 2-year-old and a 7-month-old, and I swear the second I get a routine figured out one of them changes everything. I’m exhausted!
This is so beyond true! Thank you for posting about this. I have 4 kids and find it hard at times to balance life. They are 10, 9, 2 1/2, and almost 11 months old. You have a beautiful family!
I love this and can relate to it so much! I am ten years into Motherhood also, only with 3 kids but this struggle is very much true. Each time I get a handle of things life happens, a new phase, a new kid-ism hits and I am back to figuring it out. Balance is just going with it and trying to enjoy every piece you can.
The balance beam metaphor is a good one and I definitely have to agree. It helps so much to find joy wherever you happen to be at a given time.
Wow what a beautiful family you have! I agree that you never will find full balance in Motherhood. Being a mother is hard and you never know what to expect from your kids. I also find it interesting how difference each child can be even though they come from the same parents!
Mom friends are important. Sometimes we are the only ones that get each other. There is no balance- just go with flow in my house. LOL!
I really love this post because you miss all these crazy times when your kids are grown. I know it’s hard to believe but it’s totally true! I’m glad you are able to encourage other Moms with your experiences.
Great and inspiring read. I sometimes wonder what would it be like to have lots of kids.
I really just focus on getting through one day at a time. I’m pretty sure that balance doesn’t exist and I’m finally becoming ok with that. I’m just doing the best I can do for myself and my family 🙂
This is so true! Finding that balance is a never-ending process. Glad you are enjoying motherhood! You’re doing a great job!