{Guest Post} A Letter From My Husband
Every Thursday night, my son spends the night with his grandparents. We are very fortunate to have this help and support, and my son is incredibly lucky to have grandparents who live close by and want to spend as much time as possible with him.
But every Thursday evening, I do the same thing. I beat myself up about not having my son with me. I feel like a bad mom, like I don't do enough for my son, care for him enough, or spend enough time with him. A week ago I wanted to drive over, pick him up at midnight from his crib, and bring him home. Could you imagine?!
Last night, I went through my same routine. I shuffled through old pictures of Grayson as a baby. I relived some of the fun and interesting moments with Grayson from the week.
And this morning, I woke up to this message from my husband:
"I wanted to let you know Gray and I spoke this morning. He told me he loves you more than anything in the world and is thankful you are his mommy.
He said that he loves when you read to him. He loves that you take him everywhere and are always thinking about fun and new things for him to wear and do. He loves that you are so proud of him—you always want to show him off. He is proud of you and likes showing you off too.
While he doesn't want the time to go by too fast, he cannot wait to travel the world with you and be able to talk to you and ask you questions.
He thinks you are the ‘bestest’ mommy any Gray could ever have."
As moms, we are way too hard on ourselves, so I had to share. Being a mom is great, but it is also laden with constant guilt. Guilt for not doing enough, for not being everything to everyone. Let's take a second to step back and remember, we are enough to them—to our little ones—and that is all that matters.
~ Rachel Burris Pitzel of Club MomMe
Rachel is co-founder of Club MomMe, a social events company for moms, moms-to-be, and families in Los Angeles and Chicago. Club MomMe events are social, educational, and wellness-themed in order to help transition "me" into MomMe in a fun, communal setting. A reformed attorney, Rachel loves cooking, researching the latest baby products, pilates, yoga, and the beach. In her spare time, Rachel loves to travel with her husband and spend time volunteering with the Junior League of Los Angeles.
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Reader Comments (2)
Motherhood is complicated - no simple "black and white" as we so often try and fool ourselves into thinking. If we're "this" then we're good, even perfect; but if we don't do it THIS way, or THAT way the questions lurk: are we damaging our child?! What we need to be is "good-enough"; that's what our children require to grow up healthy--feeling loved, motivated, empathic and not like THEY have to be perfect any more than we do!!
What a loving thing to do... Guilt is a voluntary position, and we moms sure know how to bring it on---to ourselves!