Warning! Parenting Magazines are your enemy!

Take all your Parenting magazines and toss them in the trash!  Okay, so maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but let me explain....  It all began with a conversation my husband and I were having on our long car trip back from Tennessee.

"Young moms are the most idealistic people I've ever met!" Doug said. "And you get so frustrated when things don't pan out the way that you imagined."  His statement was painfully true, because for the last half hour I had been lamenting on the woes of motherhood.  It was then that I picked up my newest Baby & Toddler magazine to brush up on new ideas on how to improve my mothering...which of course, I feel like I'm failing miserably at.  With every page that I turned I felt my self esteem plummet and my angst towards my children grow.  Can you guess why?

Page after page are photos of these beautiful doe eyed, clean and happy children just brushing their teeth obediently, standing still while their parents apply sunscreen, eating a forkful of vegetables, sitting attentively writing letters, calmly taking a bath and eagerly assisting with cooking dinner (without a smudge of ingredients on their hands or clothes!)

We have graduated from Romance Novels to Romantic Motherhood...neither of which are realistic, and both leave you severely disappointed.  Women are notorious for romanticizing  our relationships and our futures.  We compare ourselves to every photo-shopped bathing suit beauty in the press, and we when we think that we've risen above that and accepted our cushy bodies they way they are, we compare our children to other kids.  It's like we dream of living a life of Leave it to Beaver episodes, when in fact we are living out Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation.  When will it ever end?!

I propose a plan: Operation Real World. No, it doesn't involve writing to the editors of these magazines and asking them to include pictures of exhausted moms, belligerent children, and snotty nosed messy toddlers.  Whenever we feel overwhelmed by our real life children or feel second rate compared to super moms we meet, take a moment to look deeply into your child's eyes and smile.  Give them a hug, and say a prayer of thanksgiving for the blessing the Lord has entrusted to you.  Perfection is the enemy of relying upon the Lord!  No magazine can teach you how to parent the child God created for you to raise.

"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies."  Psalm 18:1-3

* Side Note: of course, there is wisdom that can be gained from some parenting magazines, and as with all things in this world, we need to guard our  hearts & seek wise counsel.