Dear Mama, Give Yourself Some Grace

 By Ashlee Nichols

Dear Mama,

Give yourself some grace. This mommin’ thing ain’t easy.

The days are long, but the years are short. The time spent cleaning up play-doh and splattered mac-and-cheese will soon be spent mending broken hearts. The days spent drawing with sidewalk chalk will soon be spent curling hair and picking out clothes. The moments that you get to squeeze those baby cheeks will soon be replaced with a growly-UGHHH when you try to give them a goodbye kiss before school. The pleads to have just one more drink of water, one more song and one more story will turn into text messaging and reading their own books in their bed without you.

Somehow, the days at home with babies can seem to fly by and stand still all at the same time. In the same moment you were frustrated with cleaning up spilt milk; you can’t love them any more for skating across the floor and doing a little dance to make you laugh. God gives us moms a certain kind of patience and a certain kind of love. And grace; God gives us lots and lots of grace.

The moments that make up your day are the ones to remember. Remember the extra butterfly kisses you get at nap time, even if they are in a ploy to get to stay up a little bit longer. Remember the way your daughter watches your mouth to see how to say a new word. Watch their amazement when they discover something new. We get caught up in the everyday tasks and forget to remember how incredible miraculous it is to have children.

So, today, give yourself some grace. Give yourself some extra grace. Forget about the mountain of laundry. Ditch the dirty dishes in the sink. Set aside your long list of to-dos and give yourself some grace. Ignore the mom-guilt. Stop fretting over yelling a little bit today or having selective hearing with something your daughter said about Sherriff Callie’s Wild West. Turn off the voice in your head telling you that you need to do ALL THE THINGS and enjoy your kids. Enjoy the moments. Pray that you remember every detail, because the days may be long but the years are short.

Outfit details:

SHIRT // JEANS // SOCKS // LENNYN’S DRESS // LAIKYN’S OUTFIT // LENNYN’S HEADBAND // GIRLS’ SOCKS