The Unveiling of Super Mom
Posted by Lisa Stevens on
A lot of times people hear what we do and call me 'super mom' or a 'super hero'. I am not this. I am just like any other mom....I try and do the best for my family....yet almost every single day I have doubts and second thoughts about what actually IS best for my family. And this is where it gets complicated....there are 7 of us, how can each decision we make be the best for each and every one of us? I am going to be honest....a lot of times it cannot.
I have guilt changing my idea of what is best for my family. We have eaten many different ways over the years....from vegetarian, zero sugar, only whole foods, no processed foods, anything goes, mostly take-out! lol .....was any one of those the "best" option for each and every one of us? Nope. With every single type of eating/food plans we have done, someone was not happy. And as much as life is not about being "happy"....isn't it much better when we are happy?!?!
Schooling....we have been homeschooling for years, in the early years I always said "We might change how we homeschool but we always will." (That was with 2 kids....lol) Now with more kids, running our own business, doing a very intense aromatherapy course, living in the country with so much extra work that needs done inside and out.....and the kids themselves, I am not so sure. We have several begging each year to go to public school. Would our kids be happier if they went to public school? Would we, as a family, get along better more often if we didn't spend each and every hour of everyday together? And what about our youngest....who has childhood apraxia of speech (a Motor Speech Disorder, which I will do a whole blog post on sometime....) ...would he get better treatment and help in the school system than I can give him at home? Cause he needs specialized speech therapy, which we have been lucky to receive (for free) through the province, but that ends once he is school age....which is now.
I cannot tell you what is best for your family....and at different times of your lives might warrant different plans/decisions...I know and believe this with all my heart. But sometimes it is hard to take ones own advice....or believe the same freedom to grow and change as a family is ok for mine too.
Am I "strong" enough? Super hero enough to make changes when they really need to be made? For the good of all our family members? Will others judge us for making the decisions we make? Sure, most likely. I know some people do already....lol But can we make our decisions based on others perceptions of our life? Nope...in theory. But it is dang hard not to be worried about that! Will I be considered a 'failure' if we decide to make different choices than we have been making for years?
I don't know yet...I don't know the answers. I only know I love my family, each and every one of them....and want the best for them. It might take some more time to figure out what "the best" is for each of us...but luckily we are given the freedom to choose. And fortunately we are also free to make mistakes and learn from them.
One day I was having a rough go with my little one, she was tired, cranky, and angry that she couldn’t run around the park freely. I went and sat with her in the grass, and she fought me. Then some of your kids walked by, stopped and your daughter took Ava’s hand and started walking with her. It saved me that day, and my little one was extremely happy.
Long story short, girl, whatever you’re doing it’s working. You have great, loving kids.
Oh Lisa, I don’t think we’ll ever know if our decisions were the best. Ask your mom if she has regrets, the answer will be YES!!!!!
All we can do is live one day at a time, and recognize we are gonna mess up sometimes, we just gotta learn from it.
Pop me a message for a tea sometime, surrounding yourself with similar “super moms” helps you realize it’s all normal xx