Beautiful once again

I wanted to say a public thank you for all of the support...near and far, in person and virtual. Following my last post, which clearly struck a chord with so many of you, I received lots of notes and emails about the topic of parenting "failures", rough times, fears and regrets. I also received lots of feedback on forgiveness, acceptance, changing of expectations, and navigating the path back to centeredness (is that a word?). Thank you. Thank you for all of it. Your feedback confirmed for me my decision to share those thoughts despite any intial doubt I had about doing so.

It was clear from your messages, that my post brought forth different feelings in everyone...vindication, relief, concern, utter confusion, self-reflection...and others which I won't ever know. Regardless of what my words may have conjured up for you, they gave me a peace that I wasn't fully expecting. My decision to enter the blog confessional was far more cathartic than I would have imagined. While that post had been written in my head for weeks before I shared it, actually putting the words on "paper" was freeing. As my dear friend, Amy, would remind me, journaling is valuable for a reason. And as it is with so many other things, once you put it out to the universe, it begins to change.

In the weeks following that post, Mommy has returned. I can see the beauty in the chaos once again. The breathing is easier and the patience reserves are refilling. Don't get me wrong, it's still not all "sunshine and roses" (as mama Julie put it) it's just a better kind of tough. All the triggers and buttons are still there and still being pushed. I have simply been reminded of the me that knows it won't break me. The me that can take it in stride. The me that knows there is room for error (and it's okay) AND room for improvement. And the me that knows the stakes are too high and time is too short to settle for parenting (or anything else) that just doesn't feel good or right. Thanks for the reminders.