This is a sponsored post by Legg’s, the pantyhose brand and I’ve been asked to write about how I find balance doing so many things being a “super-mom and an incredible blogger”, their exact words. And as kind as they were to say that, I am here to tell you that having balance is all a lie. No one has perfect balance and it’s a constant struggle for me trying to balance my life.
This is my first child, the day I became a mother. It was such a surreal, positive experience(thanks to the epidural!), one of the happiest days of my life. And a start to motherhood that I was not prepared for.
This was our first outing, at just a month old. This photo makes me want to cry, now she’s 7! It’s so true how they say when you become a mother, the days are long but the years are short.
My life is a constant chaos guys. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, when you have 3 kids, life is chaotic all the time. It’s even harder to find balance than before. The above picture is my sewing machine table right now as I type. It’ll look just like this by the time you read it, and I am sure for another couple of weeks. It looks so clean and organized, doesn’t it? Like I have my life together and everything’s in order and perfect, the way it should be?
Today was a tough day for me. My son was super whiny and we had so many of my kids’ events going on, I had to go out at 11:20, then 12:50, babysit two neighborhood kids, then out again at 4:20. I had to wake up my son right as he was falling asleep to go pick up my daughter, thus waking him up and starting the whole nap routine again after I picked her up. Then I had to wake him up in the middle of his nap to go out again for my 1st grader’s Mothers Day performance. Feeling exhausted and moody, I met my husband at the school and tried to listen to my daughter sing as my two kids sat next to me fighting for my attention. My 1st grader was so adorable as I knew she would be. She loves the attention and is born to be on stage, she just loves it. I tried to enjoy the moment as I was thinking of all the things I had to do the rest of the day and feeling irritable and exhausted. Why is it so hard to do the things I need to do for me? Why do I have to work around everybody else’s schedule and my schedule and my to-do lists come very last, no matter how urgent it is? Why does Jay get to do whatever he wants and we have to work around his schedule? Why can’t my schedule and my priorities be first and not last? Those were my thoughts going through my mind, since it was the first time I had a chance to sit down and had the time to think for myself. Then my 1st grader and their whole 1st graders from the entire school sang this very song for their last performance.
Isn’t it the most beautiful song? The melodies & the lyrics are so angelic and sweet, I imagine this is the kind of music they’ll have in heaven. As all the kids looked at their mommies and sang this song with all the love they could muster for their mothers, I realized that motherhood is suppose to be hard. And all these mothers sitting next to me all found it to be so overwhelming and hard as well, I am not alone! We are all struggling. We are all struggling to do our best, and we succeed in some but fail in many others. We are all trying to constantly find balance but find it impossible to do it all or have it all because having balance is all a lie. It’s not possible! If you focus on one aspect of your life, the other things are in the back burner and doesnt receive your full time and attention and vice versa. But that’s what makes life beautiful isn’t it? Would we appreciate our lives if we could have it all, all at once? If finding balance was easy and we all had perfect balance in our lives? Trying to prioritize and delegate what’s the most important to us and acting upon that is what strengthens our character. It helps us to appreciate the important things in life, since we have to sacrifice for the things we find truly worth while of our time and efforts. Motherhood is such a beautiful calling. Parenting is such a sacred role & such an important calling. And anything that is of great worth is suppose to be of great sacrifice and discomfort and trials. That no matter how hard it is, no matter how inconvenient I find having kids is sometimes, no matter how frustrated and annoyed I get because I want to do things for myself, gosh darn it, I love my kids with every part of my soul and they are worth greater than my needs or wants. That time goes by so fast and my little girl isn’t going to need me so much and I will dearly miss this time with my small kids when they depend on me and need me every single moment of their life. That I need to stop and enjoy each moment and embark in this journey full on and give it my all.
As I was thinking all these things, I had tears streaming down my face and Jay was laughing at me and video taping me crying(thanks honey), and even my 1st grader on stage noticed me crying and was smiling super big and laughing at me! My Kindergartner who was sitting on my lap turned and looked at me and said, “Mommy, are those happy tears?” I looked down at her and as I kissed her sweet baby cheek and hugged her tightly I said to her, “Yes honey, these are happy tears.” And I meant what I said. Nothing but happy tears that I get to be a mother.
My two girls dressed themselves, daddy dressed our son and I wore Legg’s nude sheer pantyhose which made my legs look more smooth and kept my legs warm on this cold day.
