Everything Else is just Extra

My mom was the ULTIMATE DIY (Do It Yourself) CRAFTY made EVERYTHING from SCRATCH PTO Chairperson, Drill team MOM! She made my own baby food (take into account that this was the 80’s, before the fancy baby food makers came about), bread from scratch, homemade pie with REAL fruit filling, made my own bows along with puff paint shirts and matching socks, she was AWESOME at French braiding and fishtailing my hair. She did DIY house projects from creating curtain holders to making homemade picture frames. She was always my room mom in elementary school, a part of the PTO board, and ran the drill team booster club. You name it-this lady did it. Now with all that being said, you would think, (considering that I am her daughter) I would obviously be that way too….WRONG! For some odd reason, I did not inherit that DO-IT-ALL, crafty gene. I have tried to make bows before with a step by step You Tube video playing while I was in action. It came out to be a tangled clump of hot glue and ribbon that I refused to let my daughter wear. I said, “Eff it-I’m just going to pay the $10 and buy her a bow!”  There are some days; well many, that I feel I cannot get a grasp on anything!  I am constantly on the go between shuffling my older two to school, dance class, baseball practice, chasing a toddler, grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, laundry, homework, AND trying to squeeze in time to do my OWN college homework. WHEW…. There is no way I could have room for anything extra!

I see some of my mommy friends who do DIY craft projects around their home-( create a castle out of popsicle sticks), make their own baby food, design fancy bows for their daughters, be the Team Mom for their son’s baseball team, volunteer numerous hours at the school or chairperson of a PTO event, have organized grocery lists on their I-Phones and make these gourmet dinners, and some still manage time to go to the gym!

I will think to myself, “How in the world does she have time for that?” or “What am I doing wrong? Why don’t I have time for that stuff?” Now for all you moms that are like that-I have the upmost respect for you, my mother was one. It’s great that you guys can create DIY home projects from Pininterest or making organic baby food and snacks for your kids. Crap-I am lucky to make chicken nuggets and Mac-n-Cheese for dinner throughout the week. And I definitely DO NOT have the patience for some of this crafty stuff, believe me, I have tried more than once and it will sit there half finished for months! After I had my third baby, a lot of my girlfriends were making homemade baby food. I thought,” Okay, I am going to try this. How hard can it be?” Haha…well let’s just say there were mashed sweet potatoes and carrots all over my kitchen because the blender exploded! After all of that, Aiden took a bite and shook his little 7 month old head “No” at me and spit it out! I told my husband,” Forget this crap. I’m just going to go buy it! We did it with our other two and they turned out fine!”

As I approached my 30’s and became a mommy of three, I realized that I will never be one of those crafty moms that can make an old rusty chair into a new eclectic piece for my house, find time to be on the PTO board at my kids’ school, make hair bows or the good ole “puff paint shirts with matching socks”.  I used to be my own worst critic and think I was a horrible mother because I did not do any, or even all of those things.  I asked my mom one day,” How in the world did you manage ALL of that? Or have the patience for it? Lord knows I don’t!” She replied, “I just loved doing it. It made you happy, and it made me happy. But being a mother is one of life’s greatest blessings, SO WHAT if you can’t make a hair bow or be President of the PTO! The important thing is to be a good mom, everything else is just extra.” So for all you mommies out there like me- IT IS OKAY! Motherhood is hard work, the important thing is just to focus on being a good one, no matter how crafty (or not) you may be. My only hope is to be as good of a mom as my mother is to me.