I’m not supermom. Yes, I’ll admit (although I’d like to think that I’m pretty damn close!). I think there’s this huge push for moms (on top of being a size two 3 months after birth) to be Supermom. I think it’s crap. Hogwash. I feel like you can be a good Mom without being Ms. Betty Crocker or cooking a meal out of Rachael Ray’s latest cookbook every night. Most days, my husband is completely fine with a frozen pizza or chicken fingers, and I assume my kid(s) will be too. I just don’t like the pressure that society is placing on us moms. I think some of social media is to blame - Pineterest specifically. I’m not saying I don’t like it, but I probably won’t be the mom who makes Minion Cupcakes or Rudolph droppings (or whatever the hell you call the popular Christmastime, Chex-mix stuffy stuff).

I’ll be a great Mom. My kid will know her ABC’s and 123’s, but she’ll probably try to Judo-chop her Kindergarten teacher or the first boy who attempts to steal her swing at recess, and I hope that’s okay. Because I’m not perfect, and I don’t expect her to be. I hope she’s kind and courteous and creative. I hope she’s fierce and stands up for what she believes in, stands up to the bully on the playground, taking up for her best friend. (The following shamelessly quotes a Rascal Flatts song:) I hope her dreams stay big, her worries stay small and she’ll never have to carry more than she can hold. (End potential plagiarism.)

In short, I won’t be the perfect Mom and I don’t think following a Pinterest guideline will make a perfect child. Your child won’t learn how to fail and dust themselves off because you decorated your house perfectly for Halloween. Your child won’t learn the differences of right or wrong because you handmade Christmas t-shirts for their entire classroom. You do the best you can and you go from there.

I think the real reason I’m attempting to figure this out, is because in being a new Mom, you still struggle to be yourself. You want to remain true to YOU, without jeopardizing your responsibilities. And I think that’s really important. I write. It’s my guilty pleasure and oftentimes I struggle with working 40+ hours a week, being a Mom and a wife and doing the thing that I love - that thing that could make money, but doesn’t yet. And my goal is to keep trying, keep plugging away. Because that’s what I would want my child to do. That’s the thing, at the end of the day, that I can use as an example to her. I can, without hesitation, encourage her to follow her dreams, encourage her to dream big. And if she does heed to my advice, then it won’t be because of some hand crafted Valentine’s invitation, it won’t be because I made George W. Bush shaped cookies for a President’s play. It’ll be because I set a good example. It’ll be because I showed her how to carry out your dreams by living my own.

Moms, I believe that you don’t have to stop living because you’ve had children. You need to start following your dreams to set an example as to how they should follow their own.

Dream big, Little One. Let no one or no thing every hold you back, tell you that you won’t succeed. Success is measured by achieving YOUR dreams and only YOU can measure that success.

~JWM