Guilt.
Once you become a mother…*ahem*, parent…your life will be filled with moments of guilt. More than you even dreamed possible – I assure you.
You feel guilty because you wanted to have a BM all by yourself and you locked your toddler out of the bathroom…put your earphones in and turned the music up. Sometimes I send her to her room just so I can have 5 minutes to check my email. Alone.
You feel guilty because you ate the Halloween candy…it’s not good for them anyways – your hips will thank you…at bootcamp! (darn…now I have to buy more to give out to the neighbourhood kids!)
You feel guilty because you were so busy caring for every need, that you didn’t realise your child actually had pneumonia…and not just croup…and you’re a nurse.
These are just a few of my most recent moments of guilt filled disappointment in myself as a mother…but there are more to come, I know it. I’m sure I’ll come across a moment of “Epic Failure” too!
Something I’ve taken away from these episodes of emotion is that…I’m really just one person, doing the best I can. I don’t always get good sleep, so I’m not on ‘top of my game’. Sometimes I forget to wear underwear – turns out, it’s a timesaver! So that’s a plus {insert sheepish grin}.
Being the mom of a tiny preemie, I put a lot of pressure on myself…and the decisions I make. It took me months to find the right formula to feed my Smook for when we stopped breastfeeding, to find the right vitamins…just finding clothes that fit her skinny little butt was a huge ordeal.
Sometimes I think I wasted a lot of time stressing over little things that, today are insignificant. I spent so much time worrying about how things might be that I didn’t give much thought to how great things actually were.
And now, my tiny, 3lb baby is almost 25lbs…and almost three! The time has just flown by and I feel guilty – for not taking more time to savour the moments that I’ll never have again.
So as a seasoned mom – the best advice I could give to a new mom, would be to STOP BEING SO HARD ON YOURSELF! You don’t have to always make a fabulous supper. Your child will love you if your legs are unshaved ( maybe not your husband/partner). You just have to love your kid. And keep a relatively tidy house – the rest figures itself out.
What are some things, as a mom/parent, that you feel guilty about?
4 Responses to Mommy Feels Guilty…
Hey Cee,
So very true and thanks for the reminder. I often feel guilty for being on the computer too much or always multi tasking when I know the kids just want my undivided attention (which they deserve) But at the end of the day I know I always try to do my best.. Thanks for the reminder
So true! I always tell myself I’m just one mommy with only 2 hands and I do the best I can do… and that’s all I can ask of myself!!!
A’man! I can relate to you on so many levels! At the end of the day guilt comes over me in vasts amounts. With a family of 6, dividing my time seems impossible somedays.
Thanks for this… I feel guilty for working outside of the home on those days when I would prefer to snuggle down on the couch with my son and watch movies… Of course, there are those days when I love leaving him at daycare and don’t feel guilty in the least!