You are enough.

Let me say it again Mama Bear because even though your mind may know it your heart may not truly believe it. 

We need to be reminded...often.  

I’ve been there more times than I care to count.  You’re falling into bed, completely physically and emotionally exhausted. As you’re drifting off to sleep you have that tiny voice in your mind casting self doubt.  

Questioning whether you are enough for your family. 

Did you do enough for them today?

Did you fail them somehow?

You replay all the times that day you may have “failed”. 

Perhaps you think you failed when you threw a granola bar at them as everyone rushed out the door to make it to school on time. Maybe it was when you were 10 minutes late picking them up from practice. Perhaps you even forgot about practice!

Maybe you hear that voice of doubt when you have finally lost your cool and are yelling for having to ask them THREE different times to pick up their toys.  

We have all been there and even with all this we are still enough.  

They need us to be present. Not perfect.  

They need us to sit down and eat dinner with them talking about what happened that day.  They don’t care if that dinner is Pinterest worthy.  It could be hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. 

The dinner doesn’t matter. We matter.  

We need to put the phone down, turn the TV off, and be present in their lives on a regular basis.  Some days we’re going to do better than others with this and that’s ok. We’ll rock it some days and other days not so much. 

Give yourself some grace on those hard days and do yourself a favor...do not compare yourself to other Moms.  

There is only one you and your children love and want you. Not Mrs. Smith the PTA President who is always impeccably dressed, brings in cute and healthy snacks to the school and who you are convinced whips up Pinterest worthy meals for her children THREE times a day.  

Yeah, don’t do that.  

The only person you should be comparing yourself to is the Mom you were the day before.

Try to be better than her.

Being a Mama Bear is one of the hardest things we are ever going to do and it doesn’t come with a manual.  It’s not one size fits all.  It’s not do A and then if that doesn’t work proceed to B and after doing B then go to C.  

Parenting is improv but rather than going for laughs we are aiming to raise kind and well adjusted adults. No pressure or anything. 

We can read parenting books and blogs (so glad you are here!) and talk with other Mama Bears for guidance. Ultimately, it is up to us and our partner to decide how to raise our children which is incredible and daunting all wrapped in one.  

Here is one thing to keep in mind before you start panicking…

You are enough.  Your children want you, your love, your guidance, your attention.  

Yes, we need to remember to practice self care so we don’t completely lose ourselves in our children which is another blog post for another time but knowing we are enough can take so much pressure off.  

Playing legos with your kid for 30 minutes with no phone and no TV and just being you is a stellar parenting moment people! 

So go forward and be you.  

Know that nobody is going to love your children as much as you.  

Don’t compare yourself as a parent to anyone other than the parent you were the day before. 

And be confident that you are enough.  

If you enjoyed this post then you may want to check out…

3 Tips For The New Mom Of A Child With Special Needs

Creating A Life Map For Your Child With Special Needs In Three Easy Steps

5 Reasons You Need To Create A Vision Statement For Your Child With Special Needs

Dandelion Tribe Takeaway: You are enough.

Mama Bear Share: What doubts creep into your mind as you lay down to sleep?