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The Hardest Lessons I’ve Learned as a Mother

  May 6

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With Mother’s Day right around the corner, I was reflecting on the hardest lessons I’ve learned as a mother. The last year has had a lot of highs and lows but I have to say I’ve learned a ton. Here are some examples:

1. I can do it all, just not at the same time.

Over the last year, there have been a lot of moments of doubt. I definitely wanted to be someone who had it all – career, kids, happy marriage, etc. There were so many times I felt like I was just treading water, like I kept messing up one part of that equation. I learned that when I focus too much on one of those things, the rest get neglected. Every day I have to make hard choices about how I spend my time, who I work with, and who I bring into my house to help me manage it all. I really can do it all, as long as I’m trying not to fit it all in at the exact same time.

2. I might never look the same, and that’s okay.

I’ve always been a pretty confident person, but going to the grocery store with banana crushed into your hair without realizing it is a very humbling experience. There are many things that have changed about my appearance in the last year, some I’ve learned to embrace and some I’m still working on. I’m constantly grateful that because of the changes I have two happy, healthy children and that has led me to more acceptance.

3. Sleep might never come.

Everyone tells you that it’ll get better or soon you’ll be able to sleep at stage x, y, or z. My kids are asleep for the most part. That’s not really the problem. The problem is that I am not asleep. I continue to have nightmares about my kids and a lot of problems actually falling asleep. Granted, this is just me and hopefully not all moms of the world but this is just one of the tough lessons I’ve learned personally. I keep daydreaming that I’m going to be a college student again and get to wake up at noon and watch Lost all day. Sometimes it’s hard to know that I’ll have to wait until my kids are teenagers or in college themselves to indulge in something like that.

I know these sound a bit negative, but the post is about the hardest lessons, and when you look at it that way, experiencing immense life change and turning into a mom is definitely worth it. I never imaged the change to my overall life would be this significant. I do think people try to tell you, “It’ll never be the same again,” but you don’t know that until you’re in a grocery store line with banana in your hair and not one person tells you…

Being a mom is ridiculously hard work, but along the way I've learned some really valuable lessons!

15 responses to “The Hardest Lessons I’ve Learned as a Mother

  1. Cat, Happy Mother’s Day! I am very inspired with what mothers do for their family. I appreciate their selflessness and determination. It’s like once you become a mother, you become better at everything such as handling budget and more caring.

  2. You’re a wonderful mother and an inspiration! There was a credit card commercial with Julia Louis-Dreyfus where she goes to the store with yogurt in her hair. It happens and you’re not the only one 🙂

  3. Happy Mother’s Day!!! I hear you on the sleep thing!! My girls actually never sleep through the night. One of them is always up at least twice. My husband and I switch off, so we’re normally up anywhere from once each to seven or more times EACH. It’s insane actually. Sleep has been our biggest struggle by far because lack of sleep effects every area of your life. I do take sleeping pills a few times a week simply because it allows me to fall back asleep easier when I’m up with them. I can’t wait for the day where sleeping is consistent again!!!

    1. That sucks Sarah – sorry you have to deal with that. It’s such a struggle. Yeah I’m def at that point if wondering if I need some outside help for the issue. It’s getting pretty bad.

  4. Being a mom is one of the bravest things you can do…I honestly believe that!! It takes guts, tenacity and love stronger than the will to sleep to get through it!

  5. Such a sweet post–even though it’s your hardest lessons! You really do manage to do an absolutely inspiring job with your business, your kids, and everything else! And, I love how you embrace the banana in your hair–you just roll with it, which I love.

  6. All lesson I’ve learned as well. So many people tell you to expect those things and you think that you are prepared but until you live it, it’s really hard understand or at least it was for me. The other lesson I learned was that it was okay to ask for help. I am good at delegating at work but somehow it was harder to accept that I couldn’t do it all at home. Or felt like I was failing if I couldn’t. False thinking, which I am glad that I figured out fairly quickly! Happy Mother’s Day, Cat! 🙂

  7. I think about how tired I am all the time and I just CAN’T IMAGINE how I’d do it if I had kids. Any time I sit down to watch something on netflix or work on a piece I think, well I wouldn’t be able to do this if I had kids.

  8. Ugh, I hear ya on the never looking the same! It changes your body and everything, that’s for sure. Totally worth it IMO, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard to accept.

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