In Awe….

I am always in awe of people. Sometimes I am jealous not for what they have but for what they do with their time. Some of my friends say they are in awe of me. We all say you make me step up my mom game.

The reality — as parents we have our strengths and our weaknesses. I believe my awe moments are when I see other parents strengths because they are my own weaknesses.

My weakness — keeping a clean and organized house. Seriously, I can not keep on top of the dishes, our couch usually looks like a kids fort and the laundry is never put away. I am in awe of others who have what I call the grown up home. The home where everything is put away, there is no clutter on the top of counters and the rooms always look like there ready to have company over. I am in awe of my friends who are capable of this.

I am in awe of those mothers who take the time each day to put on make, gussy up their hair and find time to go to the gym. Even before kids I wasn’t a makeup person but I did have my morning face routine. Now my morning consist of wake up, throw on yoga pants and tshirt, get kid out of bed, make coffee, walk dog, get kid feed and off to school. I work from home so getting gussy up is not essential. Still I am in awe of those who even if they work at home still do it.

I am in awe of parents who have more than two kids. I only have one and have only every wanted two. Yes, I stare at those parents who have 4 or more kids when I see them in the store. Not because I look down on them but because I look up to them. I wonder how they do it. I barely seem to handle one. I am in awe as their skills at parenting and multitasking with that many children wanting  their attention.

The thing is as much as I am in awe of others, I also know my friends are in awe of me.

I make my sons halloween costumes. When he was three I took three different lion type costumes to create one unique one for my son. Friends loved it and said we just buy a costume.

This past Halloween, my loving son wanted to be Articuno, a Legendary Pokemon.

Of course he choose something where everything had to be made from scratch. It put my weak sewing skills to the test. I did it. My friends were in awe. Dang it, I was in awe of myself.

I will load up the car and drive cross country to the grandparents every summer. Five to six days on the road with a kid — It is amazing. But I know my friends are in awe of me. To them, the idea of spending that much time on the road with a small child is crazy. This is how I see it.

My son sees America at to me that is worth some very crappy hours in the car. Don’t get me wrong we also have amazing hours driving but who talks about those. At the age of 6, my son has been to 42 states.

The point is – as much as I am in awe of others, they are in awe of me. We each have our strengths and our weaknesses. When you realize your in awe of someone, ask yourself why. I do all the time. It helps me not be jealous but to look within myself as to what makes us different. It also helps me realize what I could, maybe, do different.

Just the life lesson/thought I had over a coffee and donut.