Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Expectations VS Reality in Motherhood

I was chosen among some amazing women to be a part of this project set up by 
It's a year long effort to better our lives
You can check it out HERE
I'll show you who the other lovely ladies are, in this blog hop,
 at the end of this post.

Amy asked several of us to write for the kick off for this fun project and the first 
topic is:

Expectations VS Reality
in My Motherhood
(Make that Thankful Reality for me please!)

I always knew I wanted to be a wife and a mother.
I think I have been surprised by it all!
Motherhood is not as I imagined it, 
yet, so much more than I expected or hoped for.



I am most surprised in my motherhood by
How good I am at it.
And at the same time
How bad I am at it.

I think in motherhood,  no matter who you are, we are all faced daily
 (if not hourly or even moment to moment)
 with our accomplishments and our shortcomings

I'm not as skinny or organized as I'd like to be, 
supper is always late, there are toys all over the place,
 a ton of laundry to do at any given time, 
my floor is always dirty,
my kids don't nap and they all go to bed way too late.
I wish I had more time each day to spend with each and every child alone,

There never seems to be enough time and I'm always chasing after more of it.  
I'm not as patient as I'd like to be and yet 
I'm surprised at how patient I am.

I could go on and on and tell you what I'm NOT.

I know a priest, 
that, during Confession, he says, every single time,
"Praise God for all the good you do!"
(Fr Herron)

God has entrusted these children to me.
ME!
He does not make mistakes.
He knows I am what they need and they are what I need 
for my journey to sainthood
(we are all called to be saints with Him in heaven)



So stop comparing yourself to others 
Your kids love you just the way you are!

We can choose to dwell on our failings 
or we can try our best to overcome our weak areas
and Praise God for all the GOOD.

 Thankful I actually like myself!
I'm  not that bad!!
 Sure, I wish I were thinner, but I'm OK with ME.
 Give yourself a break and love who you are
and the way you look!
 Thankful for messy fudgsicle faces
 for big kids reading to little kids in jammies!
 Thankful for warm park days and silly kids
 Thankful for girls with freckles

And girls with dimple chins and rosey cheeks
 Thankful for wonderful summer camps for the girls
 (Sisters of Schoenstatt Camp)
This is part of my van load

And Vocations Camp for boys
(hosted by the lovely 12 Lives at the Lake + 1)
 Thankful for summer foods...
 Slumber parties with some awesome boys
 Thankful for this sweet boy.
After being away from home for 2 1/2 days,
Vocation Camp ended with Mass outside with the Bishop
(yes, that was really cool)
All the other boys (about 30 of them) 
sat away from their families, 
this boy sat with his family.
(Awwwwwww)
Yes, he's very very sweet
and I'm Thankful.

 Thankful for my Grandma (she turned 92 in July)
my sister and cousins...
 and aunties and parents (that's my dad with 4 of his 7 sisters)



 Thankful for a new 12 year old
who is beautiful, talented and just an awesome kid!
 Thankful for new recipes
(I'll have to do a "recipe" post)
 Thankful for vacations with grandparents 
for moments like these are treasures in our hearts
 Lots of fun memories from vacation
 Beach time
 and pool time (with cousins)
(and Spike the Dragon)
Thankful for my wonderful husband in charge of them all!
 Thankful for reading time on the porch with my oldest
(we are reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy)

 Thankful for my view from the porch
 and my view of the porch
 A closer look
(you're welcome)
 Thankful for this girl that took on the job of watering my flowers this year
 Thankful for mailboxes and the hope they bring
(we got home from vacation to find that deer had eaten the whole right side there!)
 Thankful for little boys too tired to go any further...
(because of that no nap thing)


 Thankful for swim lessons
(isn't this the cutest swim group ever?)
 Thankful for sisters with a growing relationship
 and littles that do everything together
 Thankful for 14 year old boys
 And girls not afraid of anything
 not even BUGS
 or ziplines....
 Thankful for kids that are not afraid to try anything
(as hard as that is sometimes!)

 Thankful for running 2 year olds
(really fast 2 year olds)
And the busy-ness of life.
 SO, sit back sometimes,
enjoy the view


 Be Thankful for your life
 And 
"Praise God for all the good you do."

Check out these other lovely ladies and see how their
expectations and reality come together!
 

24 comments:

  1. What a wonderful and inspirational series! I'm so glad she asked you to take part, you are the best! I also think your gorgeous and I mean that! I absolutely would lOVe to be neighbors so much so that I've even checked classified adds for jobs around these parts!! xoxoxo

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    1. Oh, my gosh, wouldn't that be amazing? If we were neighbors? I'd even settle for the same town!! Thanks for the ad checking, that's so funny! (and sweet!)
      XXX000 right back at you!!

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  2. Fun to see all the pictures...you guys are having a fun and busy summer. They do go by fast so enjoy every minute of Minnesota summers!!!
    like 9peasMom said..you are beautiful inside and out!

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    1. They do, don't they? It's already August!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!!! Soaking as much as I can.

      Thank you Christine, so are you!!

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  3. Thank you for sharing this. I've actually been struggling with this a lot lately. It plays a part in my recent post too. I think you are such a beautiful wonderful mother. I am so thankful you blog! I have been blessed by 'meeting' you and learning so much from you. So many blessings!

    Maybe you'll reconsider Louisiana? :)

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    1. Well, if Louisiana loses it's humidity, then, yes we would!

      Thank you for saying such nice things. You are an amazing woman, hard to see you get down on yourself, because I love you just the way you are!

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  4. Most deserved!
    So many will benefit from your words and experiences. And love.
    I love you, Jamie! Keep 'em coming! : )

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  5. Lovely! So many good pictures and so many thankfuls. I always wanted more siblings growing up and wish I had a closer relationship to my brother than I do. I sure hope homeschooling helps my own children with that. Isn't it great (and hard) to see their relationships growing?

    Thank goodness it is the size of our hearts that matter, not our body size. And by the way, you look great!

    God bless!

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    1. Oh, I hope it gets better, it's been a long time in the coming...such competition, unnecessarily of course!

      Thank you Nicole!

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  6. You know, it surprised me this morning to open my mailbox and find a comment from you saying that I'm beautiful! Because I never think of myself like that. :-) And you are beautiful, too, genuinely, inside and out. Thanks for making my morning, and for this lovely, thankful post.

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    1. OH, YOU ARE!!!!

      You are welcome Jennie. I"m honored you'd like this. Your opinion is one to strive for.

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  7. Jamie Jo "I am most surprised in my motherhood by
    How good I am at it.
    And at the same time
    How bad I am at it."
    So spot on!! Beautiful post. You are always so inspiring, young lady. Love you!

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    Replies
    1. Well, I knew you ladies would get it!! My husband was like, "You are not a bad mother at all!" I tried explaining to him...he doesn't see those things we see in ourselves.

      Love you too Patty!

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  8. JAMIE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

    Thank you, I needed to hear that today!

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    1. LAURA I LOVE YOU SO MUCH TOO!!

      Good, I like it when the Holy Spirit works that way!

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  9. Jamie Jo~ I love this post. Such sweet pictures of your family. I also love, love, love what your priest says in confession - I so need that (I tend to beat myself up). Thank you for this wonderful, encouraging post!

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    1. We all need to be told that sometimes, don't we?
      Thank you Deb!

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  10. What a wonderful post! Thank you for being you!

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  11. Wow! What a beautiful testament. You're so right. Despite all the messes and failures of each day, in the end we are so blessed to have each other. I'm thankful too!!

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  12. Jamie, this was a wonderfully heartfelt - and dare I say vulnerable? - reflection! My absolute favorite part was when you said, "I am most surprised in my motherhood by how good I am at it. And at the same time, how bad I am at it." I think that's one of the best summations of motherhood I've ever heard!

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    1. Thank you Amy!! It was an honor to be a part of your kick off!! Thank you for picking me! It was really fun!

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Thank you so much for stopping and commenting!