Rocking Motherhood

There’s this thing that happens every single time I think I am finally nailing one aspect of being a Mom.

And that “thing”, is that it all goes to crap.

Thought I was making the most delicious and nutritious meals which the kids were devouring?  Follow that up with a week of takeaways because I just can’t even.  Thought I finally got the discipline issue under control?  Nope, take a look at that muttering of the instruction I’ve just given them.  Thought I was giving them enough of my time?  How about a week of having to work late instead.  The list is quite literally endless.

And then the guilt starts.  Or let’s be honest, it just gets louder.  Because it’s always there isn’t it?  Second guessing everything you do.

But not today.

Nope.  Today I was tagged in a Rocking Motherhood thing by Chastin over at Crazy Momma Of Three.  Thank you for tagging me!

The idea is that you write down 10 reasons that you are totally freaking obliterating motherhood.  To feel better about yourself and stuff.  And there was a time where I did these kinds of tags and things all the time.  But then life got busy.  And maybe, if I’m honest, I thought the blog was a bit too big to be doing random posts like this one.  However, I’ve decided that I don’t care.  Because I like doing stuff like this and that’s what counts.

So, without further ado…

Here’s 10 reasons that I’m #RockingMotherhood

1. You’ll find no stronger love.  The love that I have for my three precious people is a love that cannot be expressed in words.  But that probably goes without saying right?  It’s unconditional.  I am on their side no matter what happens.
2. I’m their Mother – not their friend.  That might sound harsh, but it’s true.  As much as I so deeply desire that my children can come and talk to me about anything and everything, discipline is super important.  I think we’re doing a pretty good job of raising three kids that are respectful, polite and are just generally cool to be around.
3. Our home is a safe space.  I’ve spoken before about how tantrums are partially a result of emotional build up that they release when they are in their safe space.  And judging by the amount of tantrums we’ve had for no real reason, I think we can pat ourselves on the back.
4. Their father is a priority too.  I know how easy it is to get wrapped up in the kids and let them consume every waking thought and conversation.  But the thing is, one day they’re going to leave the house and we’re still going to be married.  Hopefully.  And for my children, I want to make sure that we have a relationship that works, that forgives, that loves.  I don’t want to put them through the pain of divorce and so it’s a real priority for me to make it work no matter what.  Luckily, so far, that’s been easy 😉
5. Quality time is important.  Being their Mom comes with the privilege of getting to know three uniquely different people.  Making sure that we have time set aside for cuddles on the couch, or sitting around the dinner table catching up on their day or even just being there when they’re struggling with something.  I’m pretty good with making sure we have time to connect with each other.
6. I’m not perfect and they know it.  We often have this opinion that we need to keep it together in front of the children.  But I don’t think that’s the case.  We are just as human as they are and we too have bad days or worse, PMS days.  Sometimes I’m an awful person.  But I always apologise and make sure that they know what I did wasn’t acceptable, that I know that and that I’m sorry.
7. Nice things take hard work.  Nothing in life is free. It takes a lot of grafting, time and effort to be successful.  I think that our children have learned that working hard is good because you reap the rewards of a job well done.
8. The World is a big place.  We try as much as possible to encourage our kids desire to explore the World around them.  Be that travelling to new places or just spending time in the garden.  Through my blog and just my own passion to explore, we’ve provided them with lots of chances to do this.
9. Being unique is a good thing.  Encouraging our children in their strengths and supporting them in their weaknesses is something that we try and be quite proactive about.  Everything about them make them them,  But I try and keep myself open and approachable to help them along when things are hard for them.
10. I’m there.  My kids come first.  No matter if I have to drop what I am doing to be at their side, I’ll do it.  I try to be present with them as much as possible – without my phone attached to my hand.  As hard as that can sometimes be.

Gosh darn it man.  That was a lot harder to do than I thought it would be.

Anyway, I’m going to tag a whole bunch of my favourite people on the internet now (the ones that weren’t tagged with me on Chastin’s blog and also missing a whole bunch of my other favourites, but if I tag everyone, then the people I tag won’t have anyone else to tag 😉 ).  If you’re not reading their blogs, you maybe should be.

• Mandy from Pregnant In Cape Town
• Nikki from We Are The Humans
• Nikki from Nikki and Nicholas
• Thando from Modern Zulu Mom
• Tami from Tazz Discovers
• Shante from Rose & Thorns
• Leigh from The Mom Diaries
• Venean from In The Meantime
• Anthea from Anthea’s Project Life
• Caley from Ellie Love Blog

Yes, I realise that I tagged more than 3 or 5 but YOLO.

If I tagged you and you’re up for a bit of a challenge to not take yourself too seriously and actually go with the tag, I’d love to see why you think you are a great Mom.

Here’s the only three rules

1. Thank the blogger that tagged you and link to their blog.
2. List 10 things you believe make you a good mother (this is just a guideline. It can be more or less than 10.)
3. Tag 3 – 5 bloggers to join in the #RockingMotherhood Tag.

Peace out!