This morning was picture day for Cohen. This is the outfit he chose for said picture day. With a laugh forming in the bottom of my belly, I calmly asked him if he’d like to wear a different pair of shorts, to which he responded, “Nope I like these ones.”
Cool Beans. You do you kid! Plaid on plaid could very well become a trend in the near future so maybe he knows something I don’t.
There are many, many things that motherhood has taught me but one big one is that you have to roll with the punches, pick your battles and laugh it off.
I could have entered into a huge battle with Cohen this morning about changing his shorts, lecturing on the proper way to dress nicely and yada, yada, yada. But did I want to change THE WHOLE course of our day over an article of clothing?! Plus, the argument would have wiped his proud little independent smile right off his face, and as I watched him strut down the street in his mismatched plaid I just had to chuckle.
In the land of Motherhood, you can either struggle and strive and stress all day trying to keep up with everyone else, or you can DO YOU! It would be really easy to blame it on the world and it’s pressures, but at the end of the day, you are the one who held yourself to unrealistic expectations. Don’t get me wrong, those pressures to be and do and appear are strong and I have fallen to them numerous times, but I’m also the mom who forgot shoes for school pick up one day. I decided to own it and walked my barefooted self proudly down the hall.
So the next time you find yourself at the battle field crossroads with your child, remember to ask yourself this: “Is this battle over something that truly matters, or is it because of an outside expectation I have put on myself.”
And all these moments, these mismatched plaid moments are the ones we will remember with fondness and a laugh for years and years to come!
“Whatever you declare as important to you, I hope it is done with intention, purpose and reason.”
-Maria Goff, Love Lives Here
