I’m recycling this post from last week because it’s exactly what Just.Be.Enough. is all about – relaxing our hold on perfection and realizing the beauty and strength in who we truly are is enough. For one month, they are raising money for families affected by cancer – and all you have to do to help is link up! So please pardon the repeat post, click on over to Just.Be.Enough and read (and share!) stories of empowerment.
From their blog:
To do this we will need YOUR help. Bellflower Books will be sponsoring the Be Enough Me Monday link ups
for ONE month, starting today. For every 20 people that link up with a story of how they lived the Be Enough Me “feeling” that week, Bellflower will donate ONE $75 gift certificate to a family identified by Crickett’s Answer for Cancer for the creation of a 20-page memory book. We will keep a running total of links over the four Mondays and hope to reach our goal of 120 links, which would provide TEN Bellflower memory books.Our goal is to provide up to TEN women fighting breast cancer a Bellflower book made by their family and friends, a work of art that will make these women smile and remember, and a treasured piece of family history for generations to come.
Not so very long ago, she was a tiny infant…shiny and new, full of possibilities.
And I was terrified of her. Terrified she wouldn’t eat enough, sleep enough, or grow enough. I was overwhelmed with the idea that I was responsible for a whole person. There is so much to teach to a child; so much wisdom to impart. I felt too small and insignificant to be everything she would need.
Turns out, all she needed me to be was myself.
And we would teach each other everything we would need to know along the way.
Lesson 1: Getting messy is good for the soul, especially when it’s a chocolately mess.
Lesson 2: Let Daddy be in charge. He may not do things like Mommy, but sometimes that’s a good thing.
Lesson 3: Don’t sweat the milestones. They’ll happen.
Binkies, solids, big girl bed, potty training…it will all happen in good time.
Lesson 4: Silly is beautiful.
Lesson 5: Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.
Lesson 6: There is wonder and joy all around…if you stop to look.
My Darling DoodleBug,
In just a few months you will be three – and in a few more, a big sister. Time passes all too quickly and I want to soak in the rest of this year with us as a little family of three.
I am in awe of all you have taught me and am so lucky to have you as my daughter. Always fight for who you are and expect others to do the same, because who you are is (and will always be) enough.
Please keep teaching me and I will keep teaching you.
I love you “a little bit much”.
Mommy
Wife, mommy, music teacher, lover of books. Dabbles in parenthood. New england yuppy + southern girl hybrid. PPD survivor. Anxiety battler. Kicked antenatal depression's ass. Currently medicated. Who isn't?
That’s soooo beautiful mama!
So sweet, made me cry…
This made me teary!!! So many great lessons–and so incredibly true!! Especially #2 and #3!!! Thank you so much for linking up!
Glad to help out!
That’s beautiful, and all lovely lessons
I cried (my oldest will be 3 in a couple of months as well). Thank you for the reminder to enjoy it.
Such beautiful lessons and photographs! I need to remember the one about letting Daddy be in charge. Sometimes it’s hard for me to step back and not intervene, but he does everything with love, even if it’s not how I do things
It’s been a hard lesson to learn – esp since I’m the one home with E. I have to do a fair bit of biting my tongue when he does something differently than I do. But then I remember – he’s trusting me to raise her and to be home with her and rarely intervenes/tells me how to parent. I owe him the same trust and courtesy. (Not that it’s easy, lol)
so much truth, so much sweetness. Loved this, thank you for linking up with it!!
Beautiful post! It is overwhelming when we first bring them home, but what we learn from them is truly amazing.
Oh gosh, this made me laugh and cry all at the same time! What a beautiful post. Those are all wonderful lessons, and so true when we can let ourselves see them. “a little bit much” is the best phrase ever.
And also, I really, really want that ice cream cone.
Thanks, Robin. E started saying “I love you a little bit much” in response to my “I love you so much.” What is it about toddlers that makes them so confrontational? LOL