A Heaping Helping of Mom Guilt
I'm coming off a crazy busy church week, overseeing music in six services (four distinct) in eight days. It's a lot... but I also love it, and the hard work is definitely worth it.
What I don't love is the mom guilt that usually accompanies the Christmas and Easter seasons. They are busy times for all families, but they are the peak working times for worship leaders. I have to limit extracurricular holiday fun in order to do my job at the level I expect of myself, and that means I can't do all the "fun" activities lots of moms do with their kids around the holidays. It's hard to find spare time to bake Christmas cookies, dye Easter eggs, or do any special holiday crafts.
I really don't want my kids to resent the holidays, so I am always thinking about how we can incorporate special things without fully draining my energy. I haven't quite figured it out yet (if you have tips, I'm all ears!), but I am getting better at setting boundaries and accepting our situation for what it is. Still, it's hard not to feel the mom guilt creeping in when I see and hear what everyone else is doing to celebrate the holidays.
If you're a busy homeschooling parent, you've certainly felt the pang of guilt as well. Maybe you're an accountant, and you feel bad about missing local co-op meetings until tax season is over - pang. Maybe you have a newborn in the house and you simply have no energy to play a board game with your older child - pang. Maybe you're a nurse working the night shift and don't get to put your children to bed - pang. Maybe your work requires you to travel on the weekends and you miss your child's baseball games - pang.
No matter your exact situation, with all the demands that are placed on women in our current culture, I think it is impossible to completely escape mom guilt. You know what helps? Talking with other moms who can encourage you because they know it's hard, and they know you're trying your best.
This is why I am starting a new small group coaching program this summer. The Busy Moms Rock Homeschooling Cohort will run from July 2022 through May 2023 and will be limited to only eight participants in order to create a tight-knit, supportive community. Click here if you are interested and would like to join the waitlist.
Regardless of whether or not you want to join this new cohort, I am still here to encourage you. Let's ditch the mom guilt and acknowledge that we're doing the best we can with what we have. While we may sometimes be upset about the things we're unable to do, our kids will remember what we were able to do in love.
