Dealing with Mom Guilt

Today I’m pleased to share grace-full words from Anna, of Feminine Adventures:

Recently my son skinned his knee while playing after church.

I hunted through my diaper bag and purse but couldn’t find a band-aid.

Why on earth didn’t I re-stock the band-aids, I reproached myself.

I have a two-year-old son after all!

Turning to one of the other moms at church I said, “My son needs a band-aid but I didn’t bring one. What a bad mom! Do you think there’s one in the church supplies?”

“If forgetting a band-aid makes you a bad mom,” she answered as she found the supply box, “there are lots of bad moms in this church!”

Though I was mostly joking, her reply stuck with me.

Moms in the 21st century are faced with unprecedented options… and pressure.

Modern moms are bombarded with methods of motherhood.

Experts, friends, family members, and complete strangers are often eager to share the best (invariably opposite) ways to successful motherhood.

And, if you’re anything like me, your own heart comes up with enough doubts to fill an encyclopedia.

•Are you feeding your child pop-tarts or eggs for breakfast? Are the eggs organic?

•Are you reading enough to the kids?

•Do you co-sleep?

•Is your pre-schooler involved in enough activities? What about the toddler?

•Will your kids get cancer from too much sun? From too much sunscreen?

•Are you saving anything for their college fund? Is it enough?

•Do you keep the house tidy?

•What about socialization? Are they getting enough? The right types?

This list goes on.

It’s easy to let mom guilt grip us over things that really aren’t a vital part of what God commands in a mother.

For some reason, God’s Word is surprisingly silent on the matter of sunscreen.

Or co-sleeping.

Or breakfast foods.

Instead He tells to “love our children” and “raise them in [His] nurture and admonition.”

That is the heart of good motherhood.

We are to be wise in the management of our homes, but we can feed our children a pop-tart, and still be good moms.

So if you, like me, struggle with mom guilt, be encouraged!

Love your children while you seek God’s wisdom in raising them, but don’t let guilt over the peripherals weigh you down on this journey of motherhood.

What about you? 

Do you struggle with “mom guilt”?

Anna is redeemed through grace so boundless she can’t begin to comprehend it…but stands in awe of God’s mercy to her! She is a blessed wife and mother of three precious children.  She is a full-time homemaker and believe building a home for God’s glory is a high and noble calling. She seeks to capture the daily adventure of this calling on her blog, Feminine Adventures. There she writes about her passions: Christian womanhood, mothering the little years, homemaking, frugality and natural living. You can also join her on Facebook or Twitter.