Friday, August 17, 2007

There is no such thing as SuperMom??

I believe in SuperMom. Do you?

She has it all together! She wakes up at the crack of dawn to exercise and train for that marathon she will be running in a few weeks. She is dressed and ready to go before her family wakes up with a healthy breakfast (not just cold sugar cereal) on the table. Her kids arrive to school on time, in perfectly matched outfits that are clean and pressed. Their hair is brushed and the girls even have ribbons in their perfectly parted ponytails. She wouldn't dream of taking her kids to school
in her pajamas. She is that beautiful woman who always dresses cute and has perfect hair and make-up and after giving birth to 8 kids still turns heads in her size 6 jeans. She serves in the PTA and is a room mom and she volunteers each week in her kids classes. She is the Relief Society President and fulfills her calling perfectly with ease. She doesn't just fulfill her calling but goes the extra mile in everything she does. She also goes to the Temple once a week and wouldn't miss a day of personal prayers and scripture study. She plans effective FHE Lessons and she has trained her kids to sit and listen. Her family kneels to pray everyday and studies the scriptures as well. She takes her family to church every Sunday and takes the commandment to "Keep the Sabbath Day Holy" very seriously. She cleans her house, washes the clothes, shines the shoes, on Saturday and on Sunday she is not only on time but is sitting on the front row 10 minutes early. Her children are perfectly behaved and reverent during church because she is the perfect disciplinarian. She must have x-ray vision. She never yells at her kids. She teaches them in a Christ like manner. She is kind but firm and always consistent. She listens to the spirit for inspiration on how to raise her kids.

I know you are all thinking this woman couldn't possibly exist.

How does she do it all? But guess what this is not all she can do.

Come on this is SuperMom we are talking about.

She is faster than a speeding bullet. Her house is never dirty or messy because she has also taught her kids to help around the house. They can clean the toilet, mow the lawn, do the dishes, and any other chore they are asked to help with and her kids won't complain about it because she taught them the value of work and that it can be fun. She is a chauffeur and takes her kids to all their various practices and lessons. She wouldn't dream of missing a recital or ball game. She may even coach her kids teams from time to time. At the end of the day she still gets a healthy Dinner on the Table where good manners are expected and her kids clear their plates and of course they have meaningful conversations around the dinner table. After Dinner she helps her kids with their homework and of course she can help her high school kids with difficult math like calculus because she is educated and went to college and did exceptionally well. Then she makes sure all the kids are bathed and ready for bed after which she sings them all lullabies with her beautiful singing voice and remembers to tell each one that she loves them. She even takes time to listen to them talk about their day. And helps the little ones read personal scriptures and say personal prayers.

Okay, so this is starting to sound ridiculous but I'm not kidding she does all this and I am still not finished.

Dr. appointments, remembers to give vitamins, Gives kids hair cuts to save money, doesn't complain when husband has church meetings, takes dinner to a neighbor, keeps in touch with old friends, babysits someone else's kids so they can go out, plays the piano, has dates with her husband, mends clothes, recycles everything, keeps a journal for herself and her young children, does genealogy, paints for her own hobby, kisses boo boos, plants flowers, keeps a vegetable garden, food storage, clips coupons, quick, witty, always smiles, never gossips, volunteers in her community, Leaps buildings in one single bound.

I could go on and on.

I am telling the truth. She does exist! Really I am not kidding!

She exists in my mind. Where did she come from? A composition of every woman I have ever admired all put into one. She is the one I use as a standard to measure my own success. She exists in my own personal comic book and that is exactly what it is a comic. It is almost comical that I have made her real even though I know better. I know she doesn't really exist. Every woman no matter how perfect they appear to be, has problems. I know this but why do I keep setting myself up for failure by expecting too much. This must be a lesson I need to learn because I seem to keep on repeating it. Every time I try to do it all, I fall and get discouraged to the point of deep depression and anxiety. I do it over and over again.

Aghhhhh! I just get so frustrated with myself.

Where is the Balance?

3 comments:

Ashley said...

YOu need to get away from Utah....no one expects me to do ANYTHING here

hahahaha

Nash said...

Beth, You are THAT mom! You do almost everything that you mentioned there. There will always be someone who does more and someone who does less than you. My mother in law has used that with so many things in life. Someone with more money, someone thinner, someone uglier, someone prettier. you get the point. I have to say Paul got after me yesterday for saying (in a matter of two minutes) about 5 different things that i needed to do/fix with myself. Organizing, better cook, food storage, doing my own hair cause I waited too long, I went on and on. The key is to NEVER give up trying, but know that we are not EXPECTED to do it ALL! It's late but these are my thoughts after reading. We also have to NOT compare ourselves, even though it is so hard. I do it but shouldn't.

Hanna said...

I thought maybe I was reading a chain e-mail that was going to leave me with an encouraging thought at the end.

That was very honest and *so* real. I don't know if I measure myself by all those same standards - but the ones I have been using are equally as unrealistic.

It probably won't sink in - but I totally admire you. I read a book about parenting that I really loved. And, while I didn't agree with EVERYTHING the author brought up, I loved one thought in particular. If you're even WORRYING about whether or not you're doing it right - then your kids are lucky.