We hear variations of this question all over the place. "Are you tough enough?" "Are you sexy enough?" "Are you man enough?"
"Are you Mom enough?"
I ask my Stroller Strides clients this question all the time. It's not to intimidate them, it's to empower them. One of my clients came to class one morning with her shirt on backwards and her baby in mismatched socks. "I don't think I can do this! " she confided in me after a particularly sleepless and fussy night. "You can!" I told her. "YOU ARE!" You are already doing this motherhood thing and you are excelling at it. You ARE Mom enough"
Despite trying to inspire my clients on a daily basis I still struggle with feeling inadequate as a Mom.I did this morning as I was struggling to get my 3-year-old dressed for school. We were late. I had been asking her for 40 minutes to get dressed and eat her (now cold and lumpy) oatmeal. I yelled at her. I'm Mom enough to admit it and Mom enough to admit that I was ashamed.
I felt inadequate (and gross) when my son smeared poop on his eye after breakfast...yes, his eye, as well as the wall, the rug, and of course me. I had to change, he had to change, and I had to speed down I-10 and hope that I wouldn't get pulled over by the po-po. "Am I Mom enough to deal with this?!" I thought to myself.
When I yanked that same 1-year-old son screaming off the slide at the playground with everyone staring at me I was Mom enough to carry him,the diaper bag, push the stroller back to the car and Mom enough to ignore the stares from strangers quietly judging me from behind their smart phones and lattes.
Am I Mom enough? Sometimes I think I'm not. Other times I'm sure I'm not. I didn't feed my kids dinner last night but I read a super long book at bedtime and gave them extra snuggles. That was enough. My house is a disaster (dusty base boards, anyone?) but my children are loved. That's enough. I'm not the world's best mom, fittest mom, sexiest mom, prettiest mom, smartest mom...but I'm THEIR mom. I'm enough.
How about you? Are you "Mom" enough? Truth is, you are.
