Dear Moms, You CAN Do This

An encouragement letter to moms during the final weeks of summer break

Dear mom, 

You're tense. You're tired. You've cleaned up the kitchen for the fifth (sixth? tenth?) time today. You've been asked the same questions all day, and have asked your children to do the same things all day. "Mom, I'm hungry, what are you making to eat?" "Sweetheart, please, please please go make your bed!"

Feel like your kids are going to drown you this summer, mamas? 

You're going on month three of this. Your right eye is twitching and your shoulders are tense. You're not getting nearly as much done around the house as you'd like, and all your side projects are on hold. If you work part time, your work has suffered. Your "side hustle" has come to all but a grinding halt.

Back in June, you had grand plans for the summer. You even prepared a bucket list of ideas so that nobody could get bored or complacent. At first the community pool or splash pad was a luxury. Driving out to a berry farm was an adventure. But all that June glory has given way to the August heat. Heat that's full of boredom, whines, questions, and perhaps most importantly of all, a complete lack of time for yourself and YOUR interests.

Oh mama, I want you to know I KNOW. I know. It's not just you. You're not a bad mom because you're counting down the seconds until your children go back to school. You're not a bad mom because while June made the community pool seem so fresh and refreshing, it now smells bad and grosses you out. You're not a bad mom because driving to the berry farm seems like a waste of gas money, and after all, it's so dang hot to be outside, picking berries and being attacked by bugs.

You're not a bad mom because the bucket list got pushed by the wayside. What was planned to be a grand time has given way to running through the sprinkler, playing with the same old toys, heck - maybe even a movie at 2pm in the afternoon, because a few extra hours of screen time today won't kill anyone, right?

My summer has devolved to the kids eating bubbles and screaming, too. But we CAN do this!

Dear mom, you CAN do this! You can make it to fall. You can weather another day of nonstop questions and obnoxious requests. Your side hustle, your work, your personal interests WILL all bounce back again this fall. Your brain will return to normal and it will get used again! Odds are you'll even miss those kiddos as they disappear off to school. And I bet you by December, you'll be longing for these slow summer days again.

You can do it mamas. There's not much summer left now. The finish line is in sight. You're not a bad mom or a failure if you didn't do anything particularly special this summer, or if you threw out all romantic ideas of summer break back in July. You're a hero to your kids. You're a hero to your spouse. Dear moms, you CAN do this!

Love, 

Paige aka another SAHM with a suffering side hustle