America, this is your mother speaking!
Let’s stop comparing other’s highlight reels to our behind the scenes! We live in a world where social media is thriving and changing the way we live. Which can be a great thing! It can also be disheartening, especially when it comes to motherhood. Anywhere you scroll, you’ll see the fit mom, you’ll see the foodie mom, you’ll see the doing it all supermom! It can be a lot to live up to as a mother. If you see it over and over, it can make you feel like you are not doing enough, or even worse, like YOU are not enough.
Well, America, enough is enough! The wise Rachel Hollis wrote “Comparison is the death of all joy, and the only person you need to be better than is the one you were yesterday.”The truth is, none of us have it all together! Yes, some of us may be better at hiding it than others, but we also don’t put those moments out for everyone to see! Do you think I’m going to post a picture of my 4 year old daughter, headed off to school, when the shoes she insisted on wearing don’t match her outfit or even the Season? Probably not! But I probably will post a picture of her on school picture day when she’s in the best outfit she’s worn all school year.
Social media is not always reality and it’s time we stop viewing it as such. It’s so easy to sit back with spit up on your shirt and look at a Mom who posts pictures of her and her daughter in matching bikinis, 6 pack and all, and think “wow, I’m falling short”, but let me tell you – if you are doing your best and your family is happy, you are NOT falling short! You are doing this thing called motherhood and you are rocking it!
You hardly see pictures of families at Disneyworld during meltdown mode, but you almost always see pictures of them, in front of that beautiful castle, all smiling with a caption like “we had the most magical vacation!” Mind you, to get into that pose, mom and dad had to threaten to throw away the kids favorite toys and skip dessert after lunch. Reality. Why don’t we share MORE of it? Why don’t we remind others, especially mothers, that hey! It isn’t always magical, but you know what, that’s ok! This is LIFE – it’s REAL and all of the moments matter! The way we discipline our children is just as important as their happiness, they way we snuggle them in our sweatpants is just as important as when they’re all dressed up going to the Father/Daughter dance. Let’s capture it all! It all matters. Those moments when we lose our cool as mothers because we’re working, we’re cleaning, we’re picking up/dropping off, we’re reading the books, we’re making the dinner, those moments when we apologize for that outburst, it’s important! We are teaching our kids how to empathize, we’re teaching them to apologize. It ALL matters!
I’m challenging you, America, to start sharing REAL moments. Let’s stop comparing our lives to others through an unrealistic filter. Parenting is hard, adulthood is hard, and it does not come in a one size fits all type of mold. Let’s embrace our differences, our realness, and just be the absolute best people we can be. The future of our society is depending upon it!
Brady Ann Medovic was born and raised in Wheeling, West Virginia. She attended college at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV and then returned to her hometown. She knew that this was the place she wanted to work to make a difference and one day raise a family. Brady is the youngest of four children and shares a close relationship with her family. She has been married to her husband, Ty, for almost 6 years and they have a 4 year old daughter, Peyton. Brady works in the non profit world for the American Cancer Society for a mission that is near and dear to her heart. Brady believes in family, faith, friends, community, and appreciating the little things in life. Read more about Brady here…
