The "Super Mom" Myth
More toned than a bikini model, more style than a Hollywood starlet, more perfectly handmade than Martha Stewart, with more than 24 hours in a day and clean kids in tow - it's "Super Mom"! And it feels like everyone is in that club but me. It is like I am living on a planet of super heroes without having any super powers of my own -- just a cheap imitation costume. Most nights I go to bed worried about my many 'failures' of the day.
But these are based on unattainable expectations. And that mom I think is "Super"? I am sure 99% of the time, she wonders if she is "Super" at all. In fact, she probably looks at other moms and thinks, "How do they do it?!" Our kids don't need "Super Mom" - they need us.
Before kids, I bought into the "Super Mom" myth. If I was just organized or cleaver enough, I too could be 'perfect'. Humbled by experience of my own and listening to other moms (many of whom I consider "Super" and vastly superior to me) I am convinced that Super Mom is no more real than Big Foot or the Lockness Monster. It is a just a phrase used to imply that other moms aren't "super". But we are!
I hope that your experience at MOPS helps you know that mothering is hard and that you are doing a great job! I may not be "Super Mom" (or even remotely close), but I am super at loving my kids. And I am very blessed to have a group of moms who share their gifts and abilities with me while helping me remember that God loves me. Not that I don't still strive to improve and try to always do my best, I have just accepted that my best is good enough.
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:11
2 comments:
Wonderful! Might I borrow it to post in our MOPS newsletter?
love it!
Post a Comment