#MOMGOALS

The other day, I watched a trailer for a movie coming out in July called Bad Moms. I'm sure there are a handful of you who have also seen it floating around social media websites.

There probably isn't one mom out there who couldn't relate to the movie in some sort of way. 

Whether you're single, engaged, married, divorced, a single parent, SAHM or whatever category you find yourself in - there seems to be this predisposition and unwritten expectation or stereotype you are labeled with from others. 

It's difficult not to be affected by the judgement. I personally am not as concerned with what strangers think of me but more so those closest to me or know me. Family for example, always have their best intentions when giving advise (at least we hope so lol), whether in regards to how to parent your child or what/what not to do during your pregnancy. And although I value their opinions, they are not always the best at communicating it in a way that doesn't come off so critical. I often find myself walking away from those conversations feeling inadequate and hurt. 

While I do strongly believe that we as parents play a huge role in shaping our children into the adults we'd like them to be, I also know that every child is different so there isn't a one size fits all when it comes to parenting styles or strategies. 

"Just like that! Good! Great job dad!" - Rylan (Rylan teaching Matt how to play Avengers on the WII)

Becoming a mother almost 8 years ago, I knew life was going to change for me. I have learned to take each day in stride. A lot of the time I feel like I have failed & then there are those precious moments that you're child does something that you can't help but be so proud & know that you have contributed to that. 

In a culture where parents can get looked down upon for getting their children vaccinated, or get shamed on because God forbid a parent fed their child junk food or something non-organic, or the emphasis on putting them through all the extracurricular activities, among so many other things, it's really difficult sometimes to feel like you're doing a good job at being a parent let alone sometimes just as a human being. 

Both my husband and I work full time jobs, I scramble after work to get our 7 year old to all his extra curricular activities, while being almost 8 months pregnant and still trying to find time to get home and cook a decent meal for my family. Sometimes it's doable, but lately it's been really really hard. By the time we get home, it's nearing Rylan's bed time and I am often just too lazy to cook a more substantial meal - so sometimes that means buying him fast food, or whatever I can find laying around the house (which isn't always the healthiest). Sometimes, we'll go an entire week eating horribly. 

Matt and I are trying to get our finances together so that we can eventually get ourselves into a house, so expenses are often tight - which mean as much as we'd love to, grocery shopping for whatever we can afford means picking unhealthy & non-organic items. That also means, sometimes telling each other no to things we want. Our home is hardly ever perfectly organized or clean, in fact most of the time there is piles of dirty dishes left in the sink, laundry still in the basket needing to be put away, and just crap everywhere. For someone who is a clean/neat freak & OCD it drives me nuts but I also just don't have the energy to be on top of my game in regards to keeping our home clean.  

So, to revert back to the title of this post. What exactly does #momgoals mean? For me it means a mother who is relentless in loving her children/family with all she heart and soul & does the best she can every day. Because at the end of the day, other people's judgement and opinions should be the least of our worries. And if today was a day of failures, we have tomorrow to start over new. 

PS. Just 9 more weeks left!