Focus Friday: Doing the Best I Can

As a mom, I pride myself on being able to juggle everything:  housework, play time, groceries/menu planning, discipline, snuggle time, etc etc etc!  There are days that things aren't balanced and those are the days that I try to reassess and learn so that I am better prepared.  As things change, our schedule changes too.  What worked 2 weeks ago may not work now... I try to be flexible.

I devote my life to being a mom.  Days without my girls are few and far between and thats ok.  Sure, there are days that I want to run away or go back to work but I am grateful to be the one who comforts them. laughs with them, and teaches them.

I take my job seriously.  So, when someone makes a comment about how one of my girls may not be getting enough attention, it stings.  It feels like an attack on me, on who I am.  I know the comment wasn't said to hurt me, but it did.

Are there times that Lilly needs more attention?  Yes.  Are there times that I am forced to let Lilly cry so that I can focus on Abby?  Yes.  This is life.  Everyone who has ever had a a sibling has gone through the same emotions.  Does the child who WANTS attention feel pushed aside a little bit when the other child NEEDS attention?  Sure.  Do I sympathize?  As the oldest of 5, of course I do.  It's a lesson thats impossible to avoid:  Sometimes we don't get everything we want, but hopefully we get everything that we need.

I'm trying not to let the comment someone made bother me because the truth is that I am doing the best I can.  I KNOW this.  But, it's nagging at me because it hit right on the 'mommy guilt' button.  We all have one, whether we stay home with our kids or go to work.  We have the greatest responsibility anyone could ever have:  raising a child into a well adjusted adult.  It's a responsibility that none of us have a handbook for.  There is no fool proof method.  No right or wrong.  Just, intuition and hope.  Even if one day is bad, we hopefully have hundreds more to make up for it.

I am trying to focus on what I know.  Knowing that every choice I make is made with them in mind.  I try to take advantage of each moment with them... I do the BEST I possibly can.

So, my focus today is on my crazy toddler.  In a quiet moment, when Lilly was content and sleeping, we got a little silly and Abby LOVED every moment!

Cutest kitty cat ever!