Good enough

The question was recently posed in an online group that I'm apart of, "how do you balance it all?" You know, the cooking the cleaning, the "me" time. Well, motherhood is a little bit like walking a balance beam, except you have one leg, and you're blindfolded, and your arms are tied behind your back. Oh yeah, and this is the OLYMPICS, so all eyes are on you and the pressure is on to do it right.

Seriously though, isn't that what motherhood feels like? Trying to do it right with lots of things going against you? You feel like you are in the spotlight and you're expect to do it all.

But maybe this is where we go wrong. The pressure, that is. You know that feeling when you are trying to do something just perfect and you're nervous? Hands shaking. Butterflies in your tummy. And you mess up. Why? Because you were trying too hard! You have put so much pressure on yourself that you're a nervous wreck. And you fail....

We pressure ourselves as moms (and wives) to do it all. The house must be spotless, each child must have had an equal amount of personal attention, cookies must be in the oven, dinner on the table and then we still have to have time to volunteer at the school and go to the spa with "the girls."

Really? I could clone myself and still not get my to-do list done everyday. And guess what? That's okay! Somedays I come pretty close to "having it all." But most days if I feel accomplished in one area, it's because I've let another one go. Sure I've played board games with the kids all day, but my house is such a wreck you probably need a tetanus shot just to walk through the front door.

So repeat after me, "good enough." Yep, it's that simple. No, I didn't get the bathroom Martha Stewart clean today, but I scraped the toothpaste off the mirror and rinsed the ring out of the bathtub. "Good enough." I didn't have time to make a gourmet dinner, but that simple chicken and rice really hit the spot. "Good enough." I didn't get to the spa today, but I caught up with an old friend on the telephone. "Good enough." Oh, and helping out at the school consisted of sending in a bag of Oreos, instead of staying up all night making perfectly decorated cupcakes. "Good enough." Seriously, Martha Stewart tried that whole perfect homemaker thing and look where it got HER!

And tonight as my head hits the pillow, I don't feel as guilty as when I was trying to walk that balance beam and just couldn't do it. My kids are tucked in bed and they are happy. My hubby doesn't have a stressed out wife. I don't feel like a frazzled, train wreck of a person. No, tonight as I lay my head down, on my pillowcase (that I forgot to wash), I say to myself "good enough."