Where are you now? (as a mom)

Understand Where You Are

(or Who knew that being a mom would be like this?!)

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

 It’s a vulnerable place to be—motherhood.

Being a mom changes the landscape of your heart forever. Parenting is amazing, fulfilling, rewarding… exhausting and challenging. One minute you’re watching your daughter run off to school in her knee-high striped socks with her ponytail swinging and a big smile on her face and you’re choking back tears at how cute she is. And just a few hours later, you’re ready to pull your hair out (and hers) because she’s arguing with you for the tenth time that day.

We all want to be happy moms and women, but it’s not always that easy. Nobody has to tell you that being a mom can be stressful. We love our kids—we do… more than we can put into words. But we’re human. And in spite of our love, we get impatient, stressed, worried, frustrated… or just plain tired.

When things get challenging, it can be hard to show our love (and—let’s admit—during those really tough times, even feel it).

But it’s then that finding joy in motherhood—finding bliss—is really about choices, deliberate choices that determine what kind of attitude we have and what kind of impact we make on our families… Choices that are sometimes even inconvenient or hard to make.

So what do we do to keep the stresses and worries of motherhood from swallowing our joy and banishing our bliss?

First, we need to understand where we are today. Just like we need to have a starting destination when getting directions to somewhere, we need to know where we are at today on the mommy-bliss scale so we can identify where we need to be and what we need to work on. Take a minute to answer the questions below.

WHERE AM I NOW?

Most of the time, I feel ____________________________________about being a mom.

My most favorite thing about motherhood is:__________________________________

My least favorite thing about motherhood is:__________________________________

If I had to pick one adjective that describes my daily attitude as a mom, it would be:___________

When it comes to parenting, I wish was better at:______________________________

When it comes to parenting, I know I am good at:______________________________

I love_______________________________________________________ with my kids.

I don’t like___________________________________________________with my kids.

I want to give my kids more_______________________________________________

I want to give my kids less________________________________________________

If I could _________________________________I would be more fulfilled and happy.

My greatest fear as a mom is_____________________________________________

The environment in my home is usually_____________________________________

Something that holds me back from being happy is____________________________

My kids would describe me as____________________________________________

My bliss-rate as a mom is:

Miserable …………………………………………………………………Blissful

1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10

Conclusions:

-Am I happy with my parenting or do I feel overwhelmed and as though I’m not doing a good job?

-Am I satisfied with my overall attitude and perspective toward motherhood or are there changes I need to make?

Maybe some light bulbs went off for you as a result of filling out those blanks. Maybe you realize just how frustrated you are as a mom. Or maybe you realize you are happier than you thought. Understanding where you are is critical for figuring out where you need to go.

NEED HELP FINDING MOMMY BLISS?

Read this article for practical steps or this page for more information.

View #FindingMommyBliss on twitter.

Or stop by MyCup2Yours on Facebook to view Mommy Bliss photos and quotes.

You can also click on my Parenting Resources page for several articles and tips on parenting.