Motherhood is Not Hard

Motherhood is not hard.

It's physically taxing, it's exhausting, it's demanding, but it's not complicated. It's not hard.

Learning to let go of expectations, now, that is hard. I mean think about it. Almost every source of frustration in and toward motherhood is because things don't go the way we think they should. Motherhood is simple. Our flesh complicates it. Society complicates it. Expectations of how things should be complicate it. 

Society and expectation says your child should be well behaved all the time, quiet in public, never rebellious, obedient at all times, compliant, and genius to boot. Your home should always be a model of a museum with a place for everything and everything in its place at all times.  So called "experts" say that your baby should crawl at 6 months, walk at 12 months, be speaking in sentences by 18 months, potty trained by 24 months, and if you have somehow failed at any of these points (as if anyone can force a child to use the toilet if they aren't ready...) then you are obviously a failure as a mom.

Society is wrong. It's time to lower our expectations. Go into each day expecting only the grace of God, and you will never be disappointed, because we serve a living God who is forever faithful to His promises. Children will make messes, they will rebel, and they will have ear-splitting tantrums in the middle of a crowded grocery store. Children develop at different paces, and that's okay! More children fall outside the median line on the percentile chart than within their perceived "normal," so that should tell you something about the true definition of normal.

The world complicates things,  but motherhood, the heart of motherhood, is oh so simple.