Yes, this title is a bit odd, but there’s a reason for it. Another option was “Resolve to be a great mom”. But let’s be honest here – you’re already a great mom. The fact that you’re taking time to read blogs on mom websites shows that parenting is important to you – and only great moms care about such things to begin with. But being a great mom and feeling like a great mom can be two very different things, and they don’t always go hand in hand.
The way you feel about your parenting impacts your enjoyment of being a mom and puts the whole experience in a more positive or negative light, so this is an important area to address. Here are some easy ways to feel better about who you are (and what you do) as a mom:
- Ask yourself what you love about being a mom. Give this some thought: what specific activities and interactions with your child are your favorites? The more of these you can build into your daily routine, the better.
- Dump the “shoulds”. It’s so easy to get caught up in “shoulds,” and in noticing what you haven’t gotten done, that you can lose sight of all the things you have done… and done well.
- Give yourself a little credit. If a girlfriend comes to you and says she feels like a bad mom, you’ll come up with ten examples of why she’s wonderful. But if you’re like most moms you don’t extend this courtesy to yourself. Give yourself a pat on the back for every story you sit down and read, every hug you give, every crying child you cheer up. All your loving actions matter, but sometimes the small ones are easy to overlook.
- Try to keep your patience. There’s nothing like losing one’s temper to make most moms feel awful afterward, whatever the circumstances leading up to the outburst. Anything you can do to stay calm and stop yourself from yelling will go a long way toward feeling better about the situation later on.
- Create daily quality time. Whatever makes you feel most connected to your child, look for opportunities to build this in on a daily basis. This connection goes a long way toward enjoying motherhood and feeling more satisfied.
- Fill in the blank: I feel like a great mom when ________. Whatever you just came up with is absolutely essential to focus on, whether it’s a behavior or an activity. This may seem basic, but moms often don’t focus on the underlying causes of why they’re satisfied or unsatisfied at the end of a given day.
Your assignment: Think about the things you do that make you feel great as a mom and look for ways to implement these on a regular basis. If you notice you’re being critical of yourself, try to turn this around and give yourself credit for everything you’re doing right. Look for ways to better enjoy the daily journey that is motherhood.
