The Mischievous Mommy

One of the most sincere and honest gifts you receive as a parent is the ability to see a true reflection of oneself. With the countless social media accounts that allow us to create a version of ourselves that we wish we were (and in some cases begin to believe we are), this gift is rare indeed. Surrounded by technology that allows us to hide and advertising that hunts us down into our very home in order to make us feel insecure, children are one of the last connections we have to pure honesty and imagination.

When I first looked at my daughter and was overwhelmed with love, I began to imagine all the possibilities her future held for her. I constantly wondered who she would become, what she will accomplish and most of all, will she be truly happy and fulfilled. I then anxiously asked myself how much I would have an impact on all of these things.

I began to realize how high my expectations of Eve, and the person I want her to be, had become. I want her to be kind, honest, loving, empathetic, adventurous, unselfish, creative, disciplined and all of those other top notch qualities. I want her to live every day to the fullest, to follow her dreams without doubt, to think before she speaks and always put herself in others shoes.

And then it hit me.

How on earth can I demand all of these things from Eve when I don‘t even come close to half of those myself! How can I set the bar so high for her when I, her role model, can’t even see the bar. How is that fair?

And there began my journey inwards, to reflect on all that I dreamed of her becoming and make it first a reality for myself. If I cannot set the right example then how unjust would it be for me to pressure her to meet such expectations?! I must make sure to live every single day to the fullest, to be kind and loving, to show patience in the face of chaos, humility, understanding, and everything else I will demand of her.

 Eve will be growing up in a world that teaches women they must be strong, but only provides tools that promote insecurity to ensure their loyalty and emphasize that outer beauty is of the utmost importance. A world filled with social media that can make you whoever you want through HTML but not substance or true character. What a dangerous world we live in. While I prepare to teach my daughter to guard herself against such ensnaring lies and the temptation to live in an illusion, I must first overcome these things myself. It is overwhelming and scary but once that realization is there it is also freeing.

I acknowledge how far I am from who I want her to be, but admitting that is the first step. The second step is realizing that you will face many situations where you will have to take the hard road just so you may be the best role model possible. However difficult the situation and to whatever extent you would like to give that person a piece of your mind, ask yourself how you would want your child to react. Be who you want them to become.

It is a tall order to fill and one that has no bottom, but the return on such an investment will not only change your child’s life, but yours as well. Stop airbrushing your social media persona and be the person you were made to be, flaws and all. Show your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews the importance of being true to oneself. Through those actions not only are you giving them a priceless gift, but you are allowing yourself to receive their gift to you.  Such honest and pure outlook of the world can only be seen through a child’s eyes. See yourself through their eyes, for who you really are, and celebrate that person. Never stop working towards being the best role model you can be and they will become a reflection of you.

Whenever you experience a peaceful moment as a parent and all is quiet and serene... run. Run as FAST as you possibly can to see what the kids have gotten into to.

According to Eve, Olaf was Noah in his past life, although it appears he is short a few thousand animals.

Before I had a child I admit I may have been one of those slightly judgmental folks that would roll my eyes as I saw yet another video being posted of a friend’s child doing absolutely nothing. If I was lucky the video would be of a kid puking all over someone or something else as outrageously awesome, but those videos were far and few between. Then of course there were the endless photos of  a baby eating, crawling, sitting, staring, eating, crawling, well you get my point. Let’s be real, babies really don’t do much and toddlers, although they have their moments, just play on repeat. I mean, come on, there are more important things in the world than having to see pictures of your kid’s first, second, third and all the other steps you decide necessary to post.

At this point you tend to reassess your friendship with said Facebook friend. If they are an old acquaintance or a drifted friendship, let’s be honest, they would probably be next on your monthly purge list. Then there are those friends who you know you can’t delete, at least without a guilty conscience or a future awkward discussion on how darn old Facebook must have mysteriously deleted them. Stupid technology these days.

The friends who make it past the cut are clearly very dear to you, so you are willing to put up with the constant barrage of baby videos that you don’t even watch but hit “like” because you’d like to seem like you care. If you are feeling patience you might even watch the first 10 seconds or at least until you somehow validate your conscience.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love kids. Did I understand why parents felt the need to document every single one of their children’s milestones for the world to see? Hell no.

Do I now? Hell yes.

After having a child of my own I feel like a complete judgmental idiot and I apologize to all those people that had to deal with me while I self righteously followed the previous thought process.

Let me ask you a question. If you created something that had never existed before, something that had the potential to change the future of our world, would you not want to shout it from the roof tops?! If you had been given the responsibility to mold the most intricate creation so it could reach it’s utmost potential, would you not be bursting with pride? I think it is safe to assume that you would want to share this new promotion that entailed learning skills beyond your wildest dreams. Where everyday you witnessed the beauty and rawness of life as your creation grew at such rapids speeds, that with every blink it became something even greater.

Now forgive me if I’m wrong, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be able to find a job that comes close to fitting that description or that element of fulfillment. (Unless you have found the cure to world hunger, and if so, you should really tell someone.)

So with that being said, the next time you want to roll your eyes as your feed is “spammed” by babies in diapers try this on for size. That woman had a FREAKING HUMAN BEING grow inside of her. She created it with HER own body, carried it around for 9 months, endured things you don’t even want to know about in order to pop it out. Follow this by months of running on an hour of sleep, covered in puke, vomit, breast milk and who knows what else all while trying to not kill the thousandth person who asks if her baby is sleeping through the night yet. So when that bundle of love manages to smile, roll over or take their first steps it as a hell of a big deal. (shout out and a sincere thank you to all the dads who have to put up with the hormonal mothers and crying babies, don’t think I forgot about you!)

To be given the gift of witnessing a tiny person growing at such speeds is truly priceless. The pride and love that consumes you is unexplainable and all you want to do is show as many people as possible what you are most passionate about. So as I scroll through my feed and see Instagrams of brunch, mani pedis, duck faces or yet another shared cat video I promise to make a concentrated effort to not roll my eyes. And as I read yet another status update on what you ate that day I will try to remember that clearly this is what you must be most passionate about, so please forgive me as I spam your feed with what I am most passionate about, my life as a mom and my beautiful child.

Welcome to my blog and thank you for reading the first post. I plan on using this blog to document my struggles and achievements as a mother, artist and mischievous prankster. So be prepared for countless photos of my hilarious toddler, videos of pranks I pull on unsuspecting victims and hopefully some decent blog posts. I will also provide plenty of firsthand advice on what NOT to do as I figure this whole mother thing out. 

Yours truly,
The Mischievous Mommy