Philosophical Monday: Good Enough for Me
I know you might find this hard to believe, but sometimes I look at the blank screen for my daily column and I think to myself, “I have nothing to say.”
Today, I wrote “Philosophical Monday” in my title bar and I thought, “I have absolutely nothing left to say about motherhood.”
A couple dozen ideas sprang into my head, “Talk about your birthday with Betty” and “Talk about going to brunch at Jill’s and Clark’s w/ Betty” and “Talk about how Betty is thisclose to being able to rock a Pebbles Flintstone look” and “Talk about your art — call it your ‘other child’!“
A shot all of these suggestions down. Many of them seemed like retreads, and I didn’t think I had 300 words to give the ideas that weren’t.
I suppose I’m at the point in motherhood where things are just going fine. No more nightmares about losing and/or dropping Betty. I’ve learned to shut down thoughts of anything bad happening to Betty immediately. I don’t think I’m the best mom in the entire world, but I’m doing the best I can and that’s enough for me.
Enough. I guess that will be what this article is about. Lately, I haven’t been able to get up the energy to be overly critical of the job I’m doing as a parent. It feels really strange, b/c I’m pretty harsh with myself and this was the one job that I thought I’d be worrying and worrying over. But lately, I’ve actually felt less anxious. In fact, it’s like the anxiety just turned itself off and I don’t exactly know why.
I always thought motherhood would be a rather Martin-Luther-in-his-Catholic-days sort of thing, with me flagellating myself with guilt over every motherly misstep and imperfection. But instead I find myself enjoying the time I have with my daughter. Looking forward to her sibling. Getting excited about the life lying ahead of her. And guilt … I just leave that to other moms.
I can honestly say, this is the first time I’ve ever looked at any aspect of my life and said, “Yep, that’s good enough for me.”
Feels strange, but I’m hoping I can hold on to it. As always, we’ll see.
Yay for letting go of guilt and anxiety!
I don't have a ton of anxiety about anything bad happening to my daughter, but I've definitely got guilt enough to spare. As my return to work date gets closer, the guilt grows exponentially. Hopefully I'll eventually let it go, but right now I just carry it around with the rest of the baby weight.
Yay for letting go of guilt and anxiety!
I don't have a ton of anxiety about anything bad happening to my daughter, but I've definitely got guilt enough to spare. As my return to work date gets closer, the guilt grows exponentially. Hopefully I'll eventually let it go, but right now I just carry it around with the rest of the baby weight.
Yay for letting go of guilt and anxiety!
I don't have a ton of anxiety about anything bad happening to my daughter, but I've definitely got guilt enough to spare. As my return to work date gets closer, the guilt grows exponentially. Hopefully I'll eventually let it go, but right now I just carry it around with the rest of the baby weight.
no guilt necessary. you can't worry about everything. focus on what's important: clean, fed, happy, secure. the rest? don't worry about the rest.
no guilt necessary. you can't worry about everything. focus on what's important: clean, fed, happy, secure. the rest? don't worry about the rest.
no guilt necessary. you can't worry about everything. focus on what's important: clean, fed, happy, secure. the rest? don't worry about the rest.
It's nice to hear that you sometimes don't know what to say when you sit down to write becaause I'm always in awe of how prolific and talented you are. I frequently go blank when my fingers hit the keyboard- as a matter of fact- I frequently go blank in general.
It's nice to hear that you sometimes don't know what to say when you sit down to write becaause I'm always in awe of how prolific and talented you are. I frequently go blank when my fingers hit the keyboard- as a matter of fact- I frequently go blank in general.
It's nice to hear that you sometimes don't know what to say when you sit down to write becaause I'm always in awe of how prolific and talented you are. I frequently go blank when my fingers hit the keyboard- as a matter of fact- I frequently go blank in general.