Quote of the Week

"We Must be Willing to Give Up the Life We Have Planned, So As to Have the Life that is Waiting for Us."
-Joseph Campbell
Week of Aug 12, 2013




Saturday, September 5, 2009

Hello 3 Day Wknd

We purposefully are keeping it "light" this weekend ... we normally have to run all over the place for soccer games on the weekends...but thanks to the holiday - no kids sports to juggle.

So, we're making the most of our time "off." We all dressed in our MIZZOU best and got some great snacks and watched the game together. It was fun to see the boys excited for the game...and nice to see a BIG win.

Now we're puttering. Puttering is nice. No places to be, or clocks to be wary of. Seriously good.

I'm wasting time updating all the boys' blogs. Even updated our main blog, www.thegerdings.com And I'm not even LOOKING at the clock. Considering my whole life seems to revolve around what time it is - -a true break is when you don't need to know what time it is for anything. Sounds weird, but it's a big relief. A true vacation.

I may even try to do some scrapbooking! What? I know! Haven't done any in so long, I can't even begin to remember what the last thing I did was.

Actually, first I think I'll go outside and water flowers. Yeah, that sounds nice. Aaahh...."nothing" feels so good!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Respect the Motherhood

Seriously.

I believe that all mothers are "working mothers." And I would never make assumptions about the choices a mother makes for her life. I come from a unique perspective -- in that, my husband and I together make "one" stay at home parent....me in the mornings, him in the afternoons.

But that's not good enough. Somehow I'm still pitted in the "sniff sniff ... you WORK?!? .." corner. Said in the same tone as one might say, "You clean up poop? And LIKE it?"

I don't want to get into the whole Mommy Wars thing here. But can we all agree to stop judging? We all share the same thing: GUILT. Are we doing enough? Are we backing off and giving our children space? Is the laundry done?

We make our own choices -and should not be judged by them. Only WE know why we do the things we do. Don't make assumptions that I can or can NOT participate in something based on what you THINK you know about my life/job/intentions/abilities.

MOMS: we are equal. We love our children. We want what's best for them. We worry. We hover. We make the best decisions we can for the benefit of our entire family.

Respect that.
We should be a united front ... not factions of us vs them. Better vs. adequate.
Open up your tight knit circles of "one type of mom" and allow other moms in. If you tear a mom down, instead of building her up ... you're violating the whole essence of "mom" : Comforter in Chief.

So .... who are YOU judging?
Let it go. Reach out. Show grace. You may find a strong, loyal ally who approaches the caretaking & commitments differently -- but whose ultimate goal is the same. You may see a different perspective on love and balance. And it's ok.

And you might find me. Just a mom trying to make it.