Pursuit of Perfection

I love these pictures. The clean, crisp white back round is so fresh and perfect. Everyone appears to be getting along and we look in control and cool as cucumbers. My hair and make-up is done, and don’t I just look like a loving, patient and glowing mother? Perfection, it all looks pretty perfect. As do most bloggers and popular IG accounts. The truth is… We are far from. What you don’t see is the sweat dripping down my back from being in a hot studio, the pregnancy zits I used make-up to cover up and the effort it took to keep Welles on top of my baby bump. You also don’t see the photographer and I tag-team chasing the kids to get them to stay in one spot to get a few shots. When looking at these clean and perfect pics, you can’t hear me bribing Scarlett with suckers and ice cream to smile, and you definitely don’t see Welles licking the floor.

Here’s the thing about us women, we tend to see perfection on social media and then believe it’s the true representation of that person. Then we sometimes get down on ourselves for not having a Pinterest perfect home, children dressed and groomed to perfection, the body of a supermodel and the creativity of an artist. It’s bogus, people. No one can do it all or have it all. And no one takes pictures of their children throwing tantrums, their fresh out of bed appearance or their thrashed house at the end of a long day. I mean, there are literally apps that can make you look skinnier and remove blemishes with one click! The perfection you’re seeing on social media isn’t usually real life.

My sister told me that her friend said to her that MY life looked like it was right out of a magazine. First, I died laughing. I have her fooled. Then, I asked if she actually reads my blog because I try to be very open and honest in my posts.

What’s my day-to-day like? I’ll be truthful and tell ya, I have a real good life. My husband is my best friend, our kids have me smitten and our living situation is swell. But nothing is perfect. My son has more appointments than most with specialists and therapists. This results in my daughter needing a lot of one-on-one attention and extra TLC. I try to keep at least one level of the house clean, but usually the upstairs or the downstairs is in complete chaos, and yes, I slide piles of junk over when I’m snapping a pic. My floor was so covered in graham crackers that I could feel little pieces breaking under my feet with every step, until I finally mopped today. Yesterday while Scarlett was having a swim lesson, I looked down to check my phone and Welles took advantage of my distraction by hopping right into the Jacuzzi, which led to me jumping in fully clothed and screaming a naughty word for all swimming children to hear.

We’ve got strengths and we’ve got weaknesses. Some examples; I’m good at snuggles, reading and showing love to my babies but I hate sitting and playing princesses for hours so I turn on the TV for the kids daily when I need a little break. I teach Scarlett (with her new make-up fascination) that real beauty comes from being kind and compassionate but I stink at working on her ABC’s. I make most of Welles baby food from scratch but I don’t work with him on his physical therapy nearly as often as I should.

I try to cook, but refuse to make more than three-four dinners a week. And when I’m pregnant, I don’t really cook at all (chick-a-bags are filling the trash cans)… I go through phases of being really healthy and running but right now, I’m in a super rut. I pretty much give up all ambition when I’m with child. And while spanks undergarments can work wonders, I’ve got plenty of jiggle.

I seriously appreciate artistic individuals but have zero talent in that department, myself. So I’m a terrible crafter.

Patience, it’s a constant struggle in my life. My husband calls me his firecracker because of my random outbursts. But with that “passion” (as I like to call it), comes a whole lot of love to give.

In other words, I’m a good mom (at least I think;)), but I’m far from a perfect mom. As a friend of mine says “I’m worlds most okay-est mom”! And I think the same can be said as far as my wifing skills go.

We all have loads of strengths and weaknesses. We like to post our strong moments for all to see, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have weak points as well. We do, we all do. Don’t be fooled by what you see through a computer screen because I can promise you that you’ve got perfection in an area that the social media goddess you’re looking at, does not. Keep trying your best but forget about being perfect. Just be you! Your real friends and family like that better, anyways.

Photo's by: Lori Romney Photography Dress: Shabby Apple