The West Family Blog

The updates of a little family in North Carolina trying to figure it all out....

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

On Being a Mom

Well, thus far my blog has been mainly about what we've been up to and darling pictures of my  kids to go with it :)  But I have been deep in thought lately about parenting, and thought I would share some of my musings here.  I have been pondering on being a mom a lot lately.  I am a Mom that reads parenting books constantly, is always on blogs, websites, and asking advice wherever I can in an effort to be the very best Mother I can possibly be.  I don't want to make any mistakes, and I desperately want the very best for my daughters, which I am sure is true for many moms out there.  But I have found that most advice can be conflicting- one expert can be so different from the next.  I have been in turmoil, and I want so much to be doing things right!  But I have found something out- that, well many well meaning experts have great advice that I can look at and take what I can from it, in the end, I need to trust myself more.  My "mommy gut" as some put it.  I know I won't do everything perfectly, but I really believe that if I always love my daughters first, the rest will work itself out.  Love really can make all the difference.  If love is in everything I do, every decision I make, than I know it will help them become the people I hope for them to be.  People that love others, that love themselves, and love the Lord.  So instead of fretting over how many minutes of television my two year old watches every day, how many ounces of juice she drank, or if I am taking them too many places or too few, I think I will focus on more productive things.  Like enjoying every minute they are with me.  Life goes too fast, and I am going to really try and be in the moment more with my daughters- and stop worrying about what they will discuss in their therapy sessions when they are older :) 

Now, for some cute pictures of my girls from the last few weeks.  You know I can't resist!

3 comments:

Jamie said...

I love this post. Mostly because it is what I think about all the time too. I want so much for my girls, greatest of all, for them to be strong in the gospel. If they have that, everything else falls into place. Ill tell you the most important thing Ive learned in my five years of being a Mom. (If you would like to know:)
I have learned that I have power to receive revelation about my children. If one of them is giving us a hard time and I have exhausted my resources trying to find out how to deal with it, I go to the Lord every time. And every time, I magically know what to do. Or maybe not so magically after all:) I love that I have that option not only for guidance, but for comfort reassurance and answers. Motherhood is a fabulous journey and we learn as much as the little ones do on the ride.
I think you are such a great Mom Tawnie! I can tell you just love your girls (and hubby) more than anything else in the world, and thats really all that matters. Youre awesome.

Becca said...

You really are a terrific mom! I know you worry you will scar your daughters somehow but truth be told I think we all will to some degree. It's just part of life. If anyone could be called perfect mom I think you'd come pretty close. You are an amazing person and I agree, you should trust your gut more. You have great instincts!

vegas mom said...

Tawnie, your one of the most amazing mamasitas i know! The only thing you should worry about is that I wanna steal your beautiful little angels!!! Oh my goodness their so old!!! But seriously, all mom's feel the exact same way that you do, it's perfectly normal to want the best for your kids,so I'm sure you'll be fine. All the books in the world can't compete with the love and knowledge of a mom.:)