Thursday, December 2, 2010

To thine own self...be true

I needed a change. I have been feeling a touch hypocrtical. Let me tell yah why...

I have a family blog. I started it when my husband went on his 1st deployment to Afghanistan. I have had it for a long time. I started participating in a variety of weekly Meme's, geared towards homemaking. Menu Plan Monday, Tackle it Tuesday so on and so forth.

But I felt like my family was probably more interested in reading about my kids and our life instead of about me reorganizing a drawer. Know what I mean? So I created this blog. I wanted a place to record everything but not have it take up room on my other one.

And somewhere between that time and now, I have been tricking people into believing that I am organized. How anyone would get that idea from me...I don't know. Honestly...

**The playroom is always a mess
** my laundry piles are never ending
**more nights than not I go to bed with a sink full of dirty dishes (and counters...)
** I believe my kids should eat a good healthy filling breakfast and 4/5 days a week that is usually something that starts with a "c"
**I shop with coupons and refuse to pay more than .25 for a toothbrush, but will drop $20 for a book...or to see the newest Harry Potter movie...twice.
** I can be incredibly LAZY. People think since I have 5 kids I must be always moving...4/5 of them are in school all day. And when they come home, they head straight to the playroom (see above).
** I drink way too much caffeine.
**I watch too much tv, am on facebook way too often and am addicted to my Kindle app and Tetris on my ipod.

I AM JUST A MOM. TRYING TO DO HER BEST! ( I realize all caps means I am yelling but I am not yelling, I promise (:

From this point on,this blog is no longer called Martha Wannabe. It is called Just a Mom. Because that's what I am. There are a million and one people who are better at homemaking than I am. They just haven't started blogs! They probably should though...and if they do I will point you in their direction.

I realize that I have been long winded but, I have one more thing to say. When I was in high school and college, and writing essays was an every day occurence, my Mom and sister, teachers etc. would all tell me to "write what you know". So I wrote essays about what it was like to work at a Dairy Queen on the hottest day in July, or about how much money I can spend on shoes...and can I tell you, I still have people talk to me about those essays today.

I "don't know" about a perfectly organized and clean home.
I "don't know" about gourmet meals every night.
I "don't know" the perfect way to get your kids to clean up their rooms. Trust me on this one.
I "don't know" how to find the perfect balance in life.

But I do know how to try, and keep trying.
I do know how to take advice. It may be abandoned later, but I do try it.
I do know how to get dinner on the table quick when Cub Scouts started 5 minutes ago.
I do know how to shop with coupons.
I do know how to be a friend.
I do know how to be a sister.
I do know how to be a daughter.
I do know how to be an LDS woman.
I do know how to be the mother of 5 kids.
I do know how to be a mother of an autistic child.
I do know how to be a military wife.
I do know how to be just Marie.

So if you are interested in all that, read on. I am glad you are here.

4 comments:

Anna said...

What a great post! Sometimes I feel that way as well. After all - it's not often we post about the days we grab our kids a Happy Meal for lunch, or lose our tempers and start yelling! You are a great mother Marie, which doesn't mean perfection :)

Arkansas Bartholomews said...

I was going to say we're all in the same boat. But we don't all have 5 kids and all the other various details that govern our lives vary enough to qualify as different boats. But we're all on the same ocean. And although each wave is unique, the often look a lot alike. =)

I'll never be a martha stewart either. I aim for semi controlled chaos. And sometimes I achieve it!

=) I wish you a great month of Christmas.

Hannah

Beth said...

Oh I just love you so much!! And I love your blog. You make me want to try harder because you are trying so hard.

And it is totally acceptable to spend money to see Harry Potter twice BECAUSE you only spend 25 cents for toothbrushes: :)

Susan said...

Don't sell yourself short - being "just" a mom is a whole lot of hard work. Even though it's such an important job, we women rarely get - our give ourselves - enough credit for how much we do. You're a great mom. No, you're not perfect, but who is? The fact that you aren't perfect only means that you're human.

Want to contact me?

Feel free to contact me at hecimommy@gmail.com