Feel Like A Failure? We All Do.

by Stacie on July 27, 2009

sad girlA few months ago, I found our 20-month-old son eating sunscreen, and then I fished out a toy he had thrown into the toilet. While cleaning up a potty accident for my 3-year-old daughter, the little one stuck his fingers in the mess. All of that happened in less than thirty minutes. I needed another thirty minutes just to recover from the chaos. There are so many days when I look back at the clock and say “Where has the time gone? What have I accomplished today?” It takes me three times longer than it did 8 years ago (before having children) to accomplish even the simplest task. Motherhood can be very frustrating. So much of our basic responsibilities of being a mom can become obstacles to everything else we think we need to accomplish.

Motherhood can be exasperating.

We feel like failures when we spend the day focused on our children’s needs because nothing gets done around the house. Then, on the days when we actually get the house looking good, we feel even worse because we spent no time with our children. If you are a working mom, you’re failure meter may be on overload while trying to juggle work, home, and family.

Want to know the truth? We all feel it. We have just become really good at hiding it or avoiding it. “It” is eating us up inside some days.

Are you feeling like a failure? You are not alone.

No matter her age, work status, marital status, or worldview, moms share a common bond of feeling like failures. Moms feel guilty for just about anything. Working. Staying home. Breast or bottle. Disposable diapers or cloth diapers. Family bed or crib. Jar food or homemade. It seems like no matter what we choose for our families, we feel like we’re failing. Moms of all walks of life feel it. Motherhood and gulit seem to go hand in hand.

Motherhood and fear of failure demands this first series of posts here at New Mommy Help. We’ll take a look at reasons we feel it, hot topics, and discuss how to handle fear of failure. So make sure you subscribe for updates (in the right sidebar). And get ready to be honest. I will.

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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Amanda Padgett July 28, 2009 at 10:49 pm

Boy, you are so right! I felt so guilty the first few years of motherhood. Now, I still feel some, but not nearly like I did.
.-= Amanda Padgett´s last blog ..Giveaway Followup =-.

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Beth July 27, 2009 at 10:40 am

Oh, how entirely appropriate for a day where my laptop is on my lap and my son thinks his best friend is Dora the Explorer.

I’m a work at home mom and this is one of my bad work days — too much work, too little time, no additional assistance for him (or the little teething her who is taking a nap). I feel like a failure because my house is a wreck, my dogs are being fed and petted but not played with, and my husband has almost forgotten what I look like or that I have the ability to cook.

I’m really looking forward to reading more about this and learning from you and others.
.-= Beth´s last blog ..A Word About My Reviews =-.

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