On Being A Happy Mom...

Welcome to Mom-Monday.

I'm glad you're here!




Kids can bring more happiness than we ever imagined.

But they can also test our patience and endurance like nothing else can.

Whether you have one child or eight, whether you work outside of the house or stay at home, whether you have babies or teens, whether you’re raising your own kids or someone else’s, whether you’ve adopted or not, home-schooled or not, are single or married, have “little angels” or “wild things” running around your house, being a mom can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.

But it can also be one of the most challenging.

And the most overwhelming.

And the most humbling.

Who knew we could learn so much from these little human beings?

Like how to function on only a few hours of sleep?

And how to help with homework, make dinner, answer the phone, and look for the missing binky—all at the same time?

Who knew that being a mom came with its own set of priorities and sacrifices? Or that it would teach us so much about compromising and negotiating? (And the fact that, most of the time, we shouldn’t be compromising and negotiating. Because we’re the moms, right?)

Who knew that being a parent would be such a balancing act?

We want to be organized, but we feel like we’re not.

We want to be productive, but we never seem to be able to get it all done.

We want to be consistent, but sometimes we’re exhausted.

We want to make the right decisions, but sometimes we don’t know what the right decisions are.

We want to be role models, but we’re far from perfect.

We want time to ourselves, but our kids need our time.

Most of all, we want to be good moms.

And we just don’t know if we are.

We get frustrated and lose our patience and spend some days looking forward to the next phase of parenting, when our kids will finally be out of diapers, or when they’ll finally be out of strollers, or when they’ll finally be driving themselves around. When things will be easier and we can get back to feeling like ourselves.

We hope.

But being happy as a mom doesn’t mean sailing through motherhood.

It doesn’t mean having it all together or having the best kids.

It doesn’t mean never making mistakes.

And it’s not about perfection.

Being happy as a mom--experiencing the joy that motherhood can so freely give--is really about loving the mom that you are.

And it's about recognizing the magic that sometimes hides in the corners of the journey—in the feel of your baby’s sleepy head on your shoulder as you carry her through the grocery store pushing the cart with one hand, or in the quiet singing of your preschooler as he sits in the corner during his time-out, or in the smile of your eighteen-year-old as he walks across the stage to get his diploma that, after all the challenges he had in school, you weren’t sure he was going to get.

Because those kinds of moments—even though they’re sometimes sandwiched between a whole lot of stress—are filled with happiness.

They're filled with magic.

Who knew? :)


So what are some of the "who knews" you've discovered as a parent? What moments have brought you the most happiness along the way?

Share your thoughts in the comments, and feel free to add your URL to the list below so others can stop by your site and say hi. No post necessary. This is just a simple way for moms to meet moms and come alongside each other.