Hi. I'm Madeline. And I just wanted to tell you a few things that you need to know.
1) You do not need your house, kids, or life to be clean in order to be a "good mom."
You probably know this in at least one area of your life, but remember it in parenting too: what's outside isn't nearly as important as what's inside. So if you haven't washed your towels, picked up the living room, or folded laundry for days on end, that's okay. And if it's never done all the way, know that you're living in reality. Don't sponsor a standard that you can't live up to. Your life can be beautiful even if your kitchen isn't.
2) Pray over your children. I don't have good prayer habits, so I say this from a weak position. Praying over people is powerful because it gives you perspective on their situation. It helps you surrender them to God. It also reminds you to ask your kids for things to pray for them, which is a question that's easy to forget.
3) Love the stains. Ben Rector wrote the truth when he said, "Life is mostly what we choose to see." When your kid puts a four-inch scratch in the kitchen table, make it into something you love. Did he do it when he was trying to reach something too far away? Remind yourself to pursue things with abandon, and that it's okay if they don't turn out perfectly. Did he do it when he was angry? Remind yourself that anger has consequences, and not to get angry with him so he has a good example. It works similarly with carpet stains, car dents, paint scuffs, everything.
Lastly, remember that you're doing something hard. One of the more encouraging things I've read as a writer is On Writing Well, a book by William Zinsser. He wrote that if writing feels hard, that's because it is. We only read final drafts of things, so we forget how many drafts it took to get there, but it's hard for everyone. Grammar, creativity, structure, it all takes time and practice and lots of mistakes. It's okay if being a mom feels hard—that's because it is.
You guys are doing something important. I love you.
You guys are doing something important. I love you.
