Doing Well

As a stay-at-home mom, I have struggled with feelings of "failing" and being overwhelmed a great deal of the time.

I have really had a hard time putting this into words. As my sweet husband always tells me, I am the one putting the pressure on myself! I recently read a blog post (which I could remember which one) about homeschooling. The author brought to light a thought-provoking fact to me: that as long as there are little children at home all day long, my house will never be perfect! Sounds strange that a stranger made it clear to me.

However, early one morning I had a thought finally come to me concerning WHY I feel this pressure to cook more, clean more, fuss less, teach more, discipline in a better way, have laundry caught up, ..... you get the drift. When I worked OUT of the home, I finished my job at the end of the day and went home. (except when teaching, of course.) But having results there was attainable and noticeable and lasted for at least a few minutes- and right now- I feel as though I am in a constant cycle of re-doing everything I did the last 24 hours! And I know this thought is nothing new... it has been haunting stay-at-home moms forever... But it helped to have it finally formulate in my own mind. I do consider myself somewhat intelliget and probably could have done well in the "outside world" but since I have chosen to walk this path of staying at home with these three (for now!) precious gifts... I need to know that I am doing it well. Because if not, that means my whole parenting life has not been done well.

So what does it mean to "stay-at-home" and do a good job at it? I would love to hear others' thoughts...