Sunday, March 31, 2019

A super mom vs SuperMom

Facebook memories are so much fun sometimes.  Today, I saw this one, which I did dutifully share on my wall:

 
I could undoubtedly turn that into a whole post too.

But earlier this week, there was a memory where I started reading the comments.  I don't even remember what the post was about, but from the first line below, I'm pretty sure it was the new Sonlight catalog.  Someone was commenting on how whatever it was made them feel totally inadequate.  And this is someone I really respect and admire, someone doing a LOT with her kids.  I wrote back:
I totally understand what you mean. The pictures, the little quotes and testimonials, they all sound so perfect. And then the lack of book descriptions leaves me feeling, I don't know, incomplete. So combined, I feel inadequate too.

But remember when you look at those pictures that you are only seeing one brief narrowly focused snapshot. If it is anything like most of the photos I put on my blog, there is a mountain of clutter just outside the frame, and undoubtedly there is a child throwing a tantrum that you can't hear over the sound of my "forced to appear calm" voice describing the scene.

You are a super mom. But you can't be SuperMom. None of us in this thread are either... and none of the people in the catalog is either. You have your SuperMomMoments. I know you do. But this side of heaven, it will never be more than a few scattered perfect moments...

Don't beat yourself up. Really. You are amazing and wonderful. And flawed. Don't measure your reality against the projected external perfection of anyone else...
 Don't we all need reminders like that?

"Don't measure your reality against the projected external perfection of anyone else..."


1 comment:

Annette said...

great reminder that we so often need.