Terrible Mother {Imperfect Moms Day 22}

 

 

I am a terrible mother. Odds are, so are you.

The other night my husband and I were in the family room, and I was complaining about having to tell our daughter to do the dishes approximately 6,352 times before she sighed with disgust and began plunging the dishes into the now-lukewarm water.

I am a terrible mother. Odds are, so are you. @plaidfuzz #imperfectmom Click To Tweet

I heard a crash.

“Did something break?” I called out to her.

“Yes,” she answered weakly.

“Did you get hurt?”

“I cut myself.”

I practically flew into the kitchen to discover my teenager, with crocodile tears running down her face, and blood running down her arm. Thankfully her cut was minor, and easily doctored at home, but it scared me. Not because of her injury, but because my first reaction was anger.

Can ANYONE do anything around here without breaking something? She probably broke it on purpose because she was mad about doing the dishes.

I’m thankful those words didn’t fly out of my mouth, and that my maternal instincts still functioned as supposed to, but what terrible mother would think those things in the first place?

I suspect the supermom ideal has been around since, well, since there was more than one mother on the planet. While Eve and her neighbor in the next garden over didn’t have Pinterest to set the bar for what a two-year-old’s birthday should look like, there were no doubt the jealous glances when someone’s kid showed up to school with a dirty tunic.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” –Romans 3:23

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” -Romans 3:23 @plaidfuzz #imperfectmom Click To Tweet

No one is perfect. Not even that mom who had a live petting zoo and catering at her preschooler’s birthday party. Get out of the game of comparison. Stop looking at Pinterest and start looking at God’s design for parenting.

Ever wonder why some couples seem to break up suddenly, out of the blue? “I never saw that coming!” “They were such a strong family!” People don’t generally advertise their shortcomings and struggles, so stop comparing yourself to families and stories that you only see on Facebook.

So you lost your temper. Use it as an opportunity to teach your child about humility and grace. Use it as a learning experience for yourself about how to better handle the situation next time. We know that we are called to forgive others, but we need to learn to start forgiving ourselves and using a standard of grace in our parenting instead of guilt.

God doesn’t require us to be super moms. He specializes in using broken vessels. After all, if we are already perfect parents, what do we need him for? Rejoice in the fact that you are a terrible mother, because doing so allows God to be glorified in your imperfection.

God doesn’t require us to be super moms. He specializes in using broken vessels. @plaidfuzz #imperfectmom Click To Tweet

About the Author: Melissa is a wife, mom, and entrepreneur. She lives in a small city in Iowa that is equal parts cornfield and city skyline. She is a self-employed hairstylist, blogger, photographer and owns her own direct sales business. She spends plenty of time in her home office but is easily lured out by her daughter, step-sons, and two fuzzy dogs. You can read some of her ramblings on living life simply at her blog, The World According to Plaidfuzz (www.plaidfuzz.com). Also find her on Twitter and Pinterest.