Sunday, April 18, 2010

Pollyanna Day 13

Is it really day 13?  I'm tired today, and feeling a little too lazy to even go back and look at the last post so I can know for sure.  We'll just call it 13 for fun.

Yesterday, I mentioned my gratitude for the good men of my church and neighborhood.  Today, it's the ladies' turn.

Perfectly Imperfect Women.  Today at church, I was having a conversation with a friend about how hard we women--especially moms--can be on ourselves.  We rarely give ourselves enough credit.  On the contrary, we can usually be found tearing ourselves down, and in a way that we would NEVER tolerate if someone ELSE were doing it to us.  If you're a Christian woman/mom, you can pretty much quadruple the self-loathing factor.  We have a way of convincing ourselves that nothing we ever do is good enough or Godly enough.  So as I was discussing this with my friend, I commented (rather sarcastically--yeah, I know, shocker) that I was stunned to hear her say that she herself is not perfect.  At that point, because she apparently found that notion to be quite hilarious, she blurted out a phrase containing a word that you don't often hear in church, then was instantly horrified with herself for letting it slip out so easily.  We had a very long, hard laugh over this little incident.  Moments like these make me grateful for all the great women around me who choose not to take themselves too seriously.  More importantly, they get it.  They get that we are all imperfect people just struggling to make it through each day without breaking down and using our children as human pinatas.  It's a tough world out there, girls.  And while we're technically supposed to be striving to make our homes a haven, more often than not, circus side show is as good as it gets.  Stop fighting it.  Just grab some cotton candy and enjoy the elephant ride.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am SO with you on this one! I never knew what a complete and utter failure I was until I gave birth. Thanks for sticking up for us all!
Erin

Jen said...

That is my new favorite quote Ms. Anonymous Erin. I completely agree! I thought I was "all that and a piece of pie" prior to becoming a wife and mother. Then I realized I was more like cold moldy leftovers sitting in a to-go box.

You are right on the money Jacey - we really do put ourselves down in a way that we would be greatly offended if we were to hear another woman say such things about us. I had never thought about it in that context.

Thank you for the inspiration and validation!

BossyMommy said...

Jen with one N, glad you felt inspired. I'll let you know if I ever figure out how to apply this to my own life.

Erin--I'm with JeN. That's my new fave quote.

Anonymous said...

You put into words so well how most, probably all, women feel. The only thing is, most women don't want to admit it because they think they are the only one who lacks perfection-ha! ha! I love the part about our children being human pinatas--boy have I been near that point many times. Thanks for your insight.

Aaron said...

I think imperfect women ARE perfect. And that makes logical sense to me.

BossyMommy said...

Aaron--I just love you and your oval-shaped head.

Anonymous #2--Use your name! Don't make me block the anonymous people!

Hilary said...

Brilliant, Jacey. It's going to be a better day, now that I'm expecting the circus. :)

Anonymous said...

I am am excited too with this question. You will not prompt to me, where I can read about it?