I have been given so much grace since becoming a mother. I don’t know about you, but I struggle with “mom-fails” slightly more than I’d like to admit. Like that time when you knew there was a 4H meeting but you’ve already had a seriously long day, and this was not happening. A few promises and persuasions later you are sitting, exhausted and feeling a little guilty telling yourself you will do better next time. My personal favorite was the vacation of 2016. My husband and I were packing the car, arguing about everything under the sun and trying to get kids loaded up to go. After an hour of hassle and a car packed with way more than what we needed we were finally off. Ten lovely hours of driving later we arrived at our destination only to discover that in the chaos of trying to leave we left our son’s leg braces sitting neatly by the couch…not in the car. Thankfully we packed his wheelchair, so it wasn’t a total failure but still, I felt pretty crummy.
It has been 5 years now since I opened my first shop. I have moved it to a new location and now changed it completely, opening a second business in the process. Where do my kids fit into all of this? Everywhere! I still feel like an Uber driver most days, always forgetting someone’s schedule or appointment and not spending near enough time with my husband. After nearly 10 years of this chaos I have created for myself, I discovered something wonderful: grace holds me…through ALL of it! The clients that are not getting my full attention, the homeschooling that I try and fail at with my son, the supervised driving that I have every intention of doing but seem to almost never do, the list goes on.
Every day a new challenge presents itself. How to do the job better, care for my customers and family more fully, how to be a more supportive friend. There are days when I can only be CaseyGirl for a few minutes before something happens that requires Mama to be front and center. My advice: resign yourself to the ebb and flow of it all. Commit yourself fully to whatever role you are needed in at that moment, without guilt or apprehension. I have heard it (in a movie) that worry means you suffer twice. Yeah, ponder that for a minute. Use your support system (or get one if need be) and give yourself some grace. I am told this daily by my support system.
Have a wonderful week and please remember, this is all a process, you’re doing great!
