Picking your Battles as a Mom

I think that one thing that people might get the impression of from influencers or bloggers is that we are either: A: great moms at everything, or B: think we are great at all things.  In my case that couldn’t be further from the truth.  In the past nearly 7 years I have learned that one of the biggest things I have to do to make our family work well is choose my battles. Picking your battles as a mom isn’t always easy, but let me tell you – its NEEDED.  Today as the last week in the summer blog series I did with Navy, 10 moms are talking about perfectionism as a mom.  This has been a fun topic because that was taken so differently by each of us.  When you finish reading my post be sure to check all of their posts!

What do I mean by ‘Picking your battles as a mom’?

There are things that are non negotiables for me as a mom.  Things that if I don’t hold myself to, and my kids to I wouldn’t be happy.  There are also things that I thought as a mom I would be amazing at and now that I am here in the thick of it – I just can’t bring myself to care ha. 

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that choosing your battles as a mom has to mean you just completely forget about certain aspects of life, but I think you have to find your strengths, stick to them and be okay with not being the amazing mom on other things. 

Battles I will ALWAYS fight:

• A clean house and put- away toys.  My house will always be clean every night when I go to bed. Toys will be cleaned up in rooms that are NOT the playroom – aka the basement. For me this is so important, and how I want to see our household run. Due to this being so important I will also add that my kids do not need much reminder so the battle is fairly easy too. 
• Manners.  I remind my kids OVER AND OVER on things with manners.  Sometimes this looks like a helicopter mom, but I want polite children.  For me that is important. 
• Safety things in the house. Things like no running or no standing on furniture and such.  I definitely am hard on my kids in this regard, but for me its a safety concern, so I stick to it. 
• Bedtime/nap time.  I think sleep is important for all.  I also think my kids getting to bed at a good time is important for Sam and myself to get time together.  I don’t let that time slide.

Lets be honest – this is a small sample of things I hold tight to and battle daily, but gives you some idea!

Battles I no longer Fight

• Food.  I never thought I would be a short order chef.  I also never thought I would not do a nice meal from Pinterest every night.  But I don’t.  We do lots of mishmash meals where the kids eat what they want.  I don’t worry about things being SUPER healthy.  They like only a few veggies.  I do make sure they have a well balanced meal, but meal time is just not my battle. 
• Chores – I try A LOT to start chore charts with my kids.  They each have one or 2 small tasks they do daily right now, but I don’t think they really qualify as chores.  I realized that I run such a tight ship in so many ways that thats not where I want to lay into them right now. 
• The playroom – I let the kids DESTROY.  We pick up toys 2 ish times a week, and that is it.  I keep the rest of our house SO tidy that I don’t want them thinking they can’t live in that area.
• Kids bed’s being made – I always assumed I would make my kids beds daily, but right now while my kids still nap or rest  I haven’t worried about it.  Now ours is made DAILY. 

I am a hot mess at the kids school.  I have forgotten costumes, special days, special treats, and so on.  I think really what I am trying to get at with this post, is PICK YOUR OWN BATTLES as a mom.  Figure out what rules and things can’t be battled daily for your own sanity, and let those things go.  Know that all moms are doing that.  Know that no mom is killing it in every way.  We all have areas of life that we are great at and areas that we aren’t, and that is okay!  And most importantly remember to lift up other moms.  Be their cheerleaders and help them.  Show love and grace not hate and judgey eyes!

Check out these ladies posts!

Navy  |  Kate  |  Holly  |  Alia   |  Jen  |  Theresa  |  Susannah  | 

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