It's hard, and that's okay. [Mindful Mothering Monday]

This is hard. This whole mothering thing. I don't think many of us really like to admit that. I know I don't. The internet is not our friend is this area. I see Facebook and Pinterest plastered with reminders of what I'm not doing for my kids. St. Patty's Day came and went this year with barely a mention of it in my house and certainly no shamrock pancakes or anything like that. There are times I try and succeed at these things but more often than not I don't. And yet my children have thrived up until this point. It's just SO hard not to compare. I always try to tell myself though that what I see online is the best of the best. That mom who made hand felted Valentine's for her kid's classroom parties most certainly also dealt with a meltdown or an argument at some point and a mountain of laundry that day as well. See, we seem to only put our best selves out there for people to see and that is when people get the impression that we have it all together. Just because I had homemade cupcakes and hand made toppers for E and F's birthday this past weekend, in no way says that I know what I'm doing or have it all together, To me it was saying, "Hey, look what I had time to do. I hope they like it!". I've been told by people before that they look up to me or that they don't know how I do it. I usually try to answer and honestly and humbly as I can but saying I DON'T have it all together, not even close. And some days I honestly have no idea how I do it, I just put one foot in front of the other. Even 6 kids in, I'm just figuring things out! So here is real:

The kid's laundry that will hopefully get washed and dried today but surely not folded or put away.

The kitchen. Neglected all weekend since we were out and about most of it.

I doubt you will see many pictures like this on Facebook. So let's all just be gentle with each other. This is hard, it's hard for all of us. And that's okay!

*For more encouragement head over to Small Town Simplicity