The Right Kind of Mom

Ya know, I struggle with this mom thing sometimes.

I struggle with knowing how to be the right kind of mom at the right time. 

It's ever changing and its something that has been weighing heavy on my heart lately.

When kids are younger they need you all the time. 

For everything.

Diaper changes, bottles, potty training, putting their clothes on, feeding them...

Here's the thing...I like and know what to do when I'm needed. 

It's where I feel the most comfortable as a mom.

As kids grow, they need you less and less and, over time, it will seemingly 

continue to get less and less.

But what I've been realizing is that I'm wrong. 

As I dove deeper into my emotion of feeling not needed enough, 

I realized that a transformation is happening.

There is a shift in HOW they need me...not how MUCH. 

Now they play by themselves, get dressed by themselves, wash their hair by themselves and it honestly leaves me feeling lost at times. 

But, them needing us just looks different now.

They need us in different ways.

Nowadays, they need me to know when to give them their space and allow them to play in their rooms while they do what their heart desires. 

Nowadays, they need me give them a pep talk when they're afraid to go back to school in fear for it being too hard and overwhelming.

Nowadays, they need me to hug them tighter and give them advice when one of their best friends wasn't as friendly to them as they had expected.

As they grow they need us more mentally and emotionally to guide them through things.

They need our love, affection, and whole-hearted attention to the situations and experiences they are going through.

I've realized that this very shift in parenting is what every life experience we have had has prepared us for. Everything we've been through has taught us lessons that we can now use to help our kid's journey. Because our job as parents is not to give them all the answers, but to be there supporting and guiding them in the best way we can. 

So, I've come to the conclusion that being the "right kind of mom" is simply giving our sweet babies our whole heart for their whole life.