Big Fat "F"

I have decided that if anyone should ask me how to prepare for parenthood, my answer would be this:

Prepare to be a failure.

 

Get used to failing. Learn how to deal with it. It is inevitable.... every day.

Boy, I sure hope someone else is saying "amen" to this. Otherwise I'm a complete idiot.

 

I guess now that I've put it out there, I need to explain myself a little.

I don't mean that you shouldn't try- in fact, you should fail because you tried.

Embrace your failures. Make friends with them. Distant friends that you are not too comfortable with but comfortable enough that you can laugh with them.

Failures happen to me all the time. I know they could dog pile me and leave me scared and bruised, but they could also build my courage and increase my knowledge.

Know your failures. Pray over them. Determine to conquer them.

As best you can, stay away from those that exploit them and use them for their own show. Instead, find honest parents that will identify with the failures of parenthood. I always appreciate that- to know it's normal. Because there is always someone that looks like he or she has it all together...but here's a secret.....they don't. So here is a list of some of mine so you can feel better about yours.

• Some days I am too tired to think, literally. I stand in the middle of the room and for the life of me try to remember something- anything I should be doing. Even if it is to make a pot of coffee.
• Some days my kids are forced to make their own sandwiches or noodles for lunch. Sometimes it's frozen pizza.
• Most days my kids wake me up.
• Since giving birth almost nine years ago, my entire house has not been clean. Ever. Maybe a room or two, but never everything. And it gets much worse with each child.
• As much as I try not to, I yell at them.
• I stopped getting Better Homes and Gardens because my goals have decreased from the featured home to "must vacuum today."
• Even though I spend most days with my children, I often go to bed wishing I had done one more thing for them or with them, and wish there was something I had not said or done.
• Sometimes we wear dirty clothes for lack of clean ones.
• Today, instead of doing a lesson with Brooke, I did a short quiz to determine that it was not necessary and then let her go play.
• I don't always keep my word because I forget that I said it.
• I always run out of clean spoons.
• I have left the garage door open all night before.
• And forgotten to pay some bills.
• And I always, always forget the name of the child whom I am speaking to.
• They fight alot.
• Sometimes in front of strangers.
• They do not have perfect table manners, they don't wear matching clothes, they whine, and often say or do something to embarrass me.
• And there are days that all of this wears on me, and I cry.

But I have the assurance that God still loves me. He knows my heart. He knows. And thank God my husband never rubs my failures in my face. For that, I feel blessed.

And I know that all of these things will work together for me and my family, becuase I love God, and because he has a purpose for me. Part of that purpose is to be the best darn mama possible.

Prepare to fail, and watch how God turns your failures into successes.