Mom Scouts

I get Mom-E-Mail once a week from MOPS. It's always very encouraging...and so often just what I need. This week, I got Mom Scouts, written by: Stephanie Morris, Council Coordinator.

Being a mom is hard work. No one says thank you for clean clothes, for cleaning tub scum or for grocery shopping. But if you forget and no one has matching socks, the toilet looks worse than a rest-stop facility or there are no chicken nuggets - that's when you get noticed! You know what we need? Mom Scouts - with a little vest, complete with a sash displaying all the badges we've earned. While this only exists in my mind, I'm definitely a highly-decorated scout!I've earned badges in potty-training (three times), drop-off play dates and birthday parties. I've earned badges in spiking fevers, unknown rashes, distressed breathing and continual vomiting. I've earned the ambulance badge twice, with a special pin in hospital admission. I've also earned fun badges like the perfect-peanut-butter-sandwich, gingerbread house decoration, chocolatey chocolate milk and the famous cakes for no reason badge. I've earned the mundane badges: a badge for answering the question "Why?" forty-seven times in one day. I've earned badges for having a child go to the bathroom on me and for being thrown-up on. Thankfully, I haven't earned the extra pin for being vomited on by a child other than my own! There are badges for grocery-shopping with two or more toddlers at once, and preparing a dinner that both kids and grown-ups will eat! And let's not forget the badges earned by newest moms: nursing while cooking dinner, packing the ultimate diaper bag, listening to unsolicited advice and number of days without a shower. For Mom Scouts new badges are always under development.I guess I shouldn't really worry about filling up my imaginary vest with badges or pins. I should relish the thought that God doesn't make mistakes and that I'm the mom he designed for my children. Besides, I think the Mom Scouts will issue new vests (completely empty) as we enter the pre-teen, teenage and college years. I can only wonder what badges I'll be earning then!

Prayer From a Mother's Heart
Dear God, raise my child to be a person willing to give of themselves for others.

So often I feel like I've got to be Supermom...waking up with a smile (even when the kids are up at 6:30am), serving balanced, healthy meals, arranging the perfect play dates, visiting every park within a 10 mile radius, hosting the parties that are talked about forever, reading 20 minutes to the kids (everyday), keeping the house so well stocked that we never run out of anything, making crafts/doing art at home...and then still finding time to be Superwife. No wonder I'm exhausted. I think, no, I know that I put these expectations on myself. I'm so achievement driven that I want every badge! And I want the extra pins. Somehow, I think that if I do it all...then I'm a better mom. Really, my kids just want a mom that will play with them...and they don't care if we have cereal for dinner. If I look back, with perspective, I can see how decorated I am. If I focus on the character of my little ones, I can let go of the sticky counters and crumb strewn floor. And God will give me the strength for each day.

If you'e a mom of young ones reading this...check out MOPS.