The other day I was catching up on Facebook and read a post from a friend. She wrote that she was proud of herself as a mom and watching her son, she must have done something right. I had to re-read it because I thought I got it wrong at first. NOT that I disagreed - she IS a great Mom and has a wonderful son who I ADORE.
But I'm more use to reading posts where we doubt ourselves as moms, where we question ourselves or vent about a rough day with our kids. And here a mom was stating that she was proud of herself and I thought I read it wrong. And it got me asking: why? Are we groomed as women to be so modest that we fear it's wrong to celebrate our success? Do we think it's too prideful to announce how awesome we are? Are we worried that if we say "look at me, I truly ROCK" that someone will say, "no, really you don't"?
What made this post even more interesting to me is it was from a younger mom (younger to me means under 30, just so you know). Here I am, 41 years old, and I don't know that I would have felt comfortable enough to say that to the world. I still have enough doubt in myself as a mom and as an individual that I can't just celebrate, well, me. I may say I did this or that well, or I'm proud of the job I did on a certain task. But do I have enough confidence in myself to post "I am truly proud of the mother I am. Looking at my son, I must have done something right"? It is easy for me to praise Alex and the child he is, but not for me to take credit for that.
And again, I have to ask "why?" When he does something wrong, I quickly jump in to say "I'm sorry" for how he acted. Like I have some responsibility for his actions. So, if I can be held accountable for his negative actions, can't I also be praise for his positive ones. Isn't it fair to say that (along with my husband, of course) I have raised a fantastic child? He didn't just wander alone in the woods for 5 1/2 years and turn out this way on his own. I worked and prayed hard to help him become the person he is today.
To my friend who has more bravery in her twenties than I do at 41, I say thank you. Thank you for showing me it's okay to say "I'm an awesome Mom". Thank you for singing your own praises. They deserve to be sung! I hope you sing them every day and that others around you sing them too. And to all my other mom friends reading this (deep breath here), repeat after me: I am TRULY proud of the job I've done as a Mom. I have helped create, guide, mold, educate, and LOVED my precious child(ren) and they would NOT be who they are without me.
Was it hard to say? Yep, for me too. But I'm going to try and say it to myself every day until it sinks in. I hope you will join me and also sing your praises. I think it needs to be done.
God bless and here's to a fantastic new week. 😃😃😃
