The "Mom-Com"
"These aren't perma-smiling, pie-baking, June Cleaver types. Today's moms are snarky, cynical, and edgy. Just the way we like em'!"
WHOA! Seriously? I read this and well, I just suddenly felt a knot appear in my stomach. I felt my sudden twinge of "ah!" mostly due to sorrow for what our culture is promoting, but partly because I am sure that some of this easily creeps into my household when I'm not looking.
Snarky? Cynical? Edgy? These are NOT the traits that I want to instill in my daughter, or our future children, or friends' of my children who visit our house over the years. I would much more prefer Molly grow up with me leaning closer to the "June Cleaver" type. Unfortunately, I can't say that I'm anywhere near that end of the mom-spectrum either.
What I do know, is that God calls us as woman and mothers to be like the Virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. This woman of God labored daily for her family, and those in need, from sun up til sun down. Her children and her husband "arose and called her blessed". So why can't we make that the picture that the kids in our society see? I may not be able to control society, but I can control my home, my daughter, and my influence over the other children than I'm around.
So you see, here's the problem. I am sarcastic, I am selfish, I am busy with life, I am "cynical" in many ways. Here's the counterpart to my problem. My husband is far from sarcastic, very selfless, Mr. Optomistic, and he help's me to balance the "problems" in me.
I want my Molly to grow up with a mom focused on her spiritual needs. I want her to grow up to love God, and to serve others. So I have to start now, at the age of 14 months. For me this means, I need to relax, to be more positive towards Molly, myself, and my husband. I need to be consistant with my discipline and my love. I need to relax. I need to pray to God for help. I need to seek his help. I need to relax. I need trust God. And I need to surround myself with friends and moms far and near who are striving to be like the Virtuous Woman and working to not be that "Mom-Com"
This article made me think of my "mom friends" who help me to focus on being better. So I'm going to get sappy, here's just a few.
I'm thankful for a special friend, Lydia, who is raising a sweet baby girl the same age as Molly, our conversations so often help me to get the right perspective on my girl, she help's to relax me, give me confidence, and makes my heart smile. I'm also grateful for my dear Elizabeth who has 8 more years of mom-experience than me, and helps to ground me and for me to gain perspective for the constant growing Christian woman I should be. And For my precious Vicki, who listens to all my crazy "AHHH" moments each day, and laughs with me (and AT me) and shares the joys of my Molly with zillions of text messages each week. And of course, God also knows that you need someone to go through things on daily basis with at the same point in life, and for this, he gave me my sweet sister n law, to learn about raising our babies together, a blessing to me more than she may know.
Today, I spent the day with 3 of my dearest friends. These are mom's that I look up to, and ladies that I know I can learn from through my years with my sweet Molly. I am surrounded by mom's at church, or in my "circle of friends" near and far who are trendy and fun and witty, but are not snarky or cynical or edgy. These ladies are all a testament to being Christian woman in todays culture, who hold fast to the "June Cleaver" mindset for their families.
It's not that all of my friends are "mom friends", in fact he majority of my friends aren't mommy's yet, and are some of the most amazing women I know. It's funny how TV can make you feel like all around you are women who fit the "mold" they want you to see, when in reality, God has so many great servants with beautiful hearts all around us. These friends are ones that just make me want to be better each day.
So to end this soap box of mine, here's a picture of ladies who help me to focus on being a better Me. Me as a mom, a christian a wife and a friend. You see, Molly will learn from ME....so I pray that she see's the Virtuous Woman that I am far from right now, but strive to be.
