Have you ever played a sport and thought, “Man, I think I’m getting good at this!” Or how about, “I’m so tired I don’t want to show up to practice”? You are not alone. Well motherhood is a full on sport too. Every sport has its own rules, and here are some basic rules from my wild little game of motherhood.
Follow Through Is Important
These are easy to plan and sometimes hard to follow through on. When I tell my kids we are going to play at the skate park later, I’m not thinking ahead about how I’ll be exhausted from working all day. But keeping my word is big.
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And I’ve learned in my 20 years of parenting that open communication about the plans or how I’m feeling is huge. If I have to change the plans, then always explaining the “why” definitely helps.
Instill the Rules by Example
We have to make sure everyone is following the rules. It is one of the most important parts of the sport. Keeping things in line and doing what is right seems easy enough, right? I certainly wish! We all like to toe the line every now and then, but once the kids see you leading by example, they eventually understand the rules.
Expect Physical Challenges
How can we ever prepare ourselves enough for the big game? We are exhausted, we are tired, and sometimes we just want to sit on the sidelines. Don’t sweat it! Breathe in and remember that sometimes we don’t put our best selves out there on the court. It’s okay to shake it off and learn from those mistakes. Then stick it in the playbook for next time.
Strive for Excellence
Let’s face it, at the end of the season, we don’t even realize just how much we learned and grew! We started off without knowing a single thing about this sport. We took the advice of others, rewrote the rules to fit our beliefs and lifestyles, created memories, and learned.
With a little practice and some wins and some losses, you built the best team! Was it perfect? Probably not. But was it worth it? 100%.
Motherhood is a sport. And mamas are the real MVPs.
The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ABQ Mom, its executive team, other contributors to the site, its sponsors or partners, or any organizations the aforementioned might be affiliated with.
