Today I welcome back Jen Doolittle, ‘community manager’ here at Recapture Develop — and lead teacher for the Develop class.
Lean more about Develop HERE and sign up for the next session starting July 1st.
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There are days I wake up tired. I hear the door slam and feel the weight of my girls as they jump into bed asking for help with shirts, hair brushing and breakfast. I’m already behind and I haven’t even gotten out of bed.
I turn to coffee, knowing it’s not going to help the migraine I feel building. The day goes on. We go out because sometimes that’s easier than staying in. I set up art activities, mediate fights, cook food that doesn’t always get eaten. There’s good moments and some not so good ones. Hugs and tears. Laughs and screams. Baths, jammies, books, and bed.
I sit. Sigh. Feel the quiet. I am exhausted but I couldn’t really tell you what I did that day.
I go to bed knowing I’ll do it all again tomorrow. The days pass. Some are good, some are bad. Some days I know I’m a good mom. That I’m doing the best I can. Other days I don’t know if I can do it anymore. And I beat myself up for feeling like I want to run away.
Motherhood is a beautiful thing. Nothing compares to the love I feel for my children. The lengths I’m willing to go to do what is best for them.
But.
All that love and energy that I pour into taking care of them means that I often forget to take care of myself. I would guess that sometimes you forget too.
Motherhood doesn’t have to mean we always put everyone else’s needs ahead of our own.
In order to mother our children, we need to remember to mother ourselves.
One way to start is to express yourself. To acknowledge what motherhood feels like for you.
Sometimes motherhood is wonderful. Other times it’s dirty dishes, shoes piled by the door and your husband sitting on the stairs because your daughter won’t stay in bed.
Sometimes it feels like there’s nothing more perfect, more right than the time spent with your child. Other times you feel frustrated, lonely and overwhelmed.
Instead of hiding those feelings, express them so that you can move past them.
Take 15-20 minutes to journal. Finish this sentence, “As I sit here I feel….”
Write. Let it out.
Then spend a day looking at the details of your life. What do you notice? Dirty dishes? The light streaming in through the windows? The intense love you feel for your child?
Photograph the things that make you feel something. Even if it seems weird. Or that no one will get why. Give yourself permission to create something for you. To photograph what motherhood looks like for you. Everyday.
If you’d like keep exploring what motherhood looks like for you, check out our upcoming class, Develop. Develop is a 6 week experience created to help you find the beautiful moments that exist in motherhood through the lens of your camera phone. Get details HERE or sign up to go beyond the snapshot and learn how to capture what you really love about your child.