I remember when I was the world’s best mom. My babies slept through the night. When they cried it was so soft and did not disturb anyone. As they turned into toddlers there were barely any terrible twos or threes… no real tantrums. They loved to eat all the great vegetables I made and never asked for candy. My house always looked pristine and the laundry never piled up, the beds were always made, and surprise guests were always welcome. I had balance down pat between work and family. There was no problem with potty training and bed time sign me up; I was like the child whisperer!  When we went out to eat our kids never played with electronics they colored or talked to us.  I was so crafty I could make anything out of popsicles sticks. Everybody wanted me for a mom.

Then…… I actually had children AND

I am that mom, who was blessed with loud, wonderful twin boys….that cried a lot and loudly

I am that mom who one time accidently in the middle of the night put the baby swings on level five to get the babies back to sleep and then fell asleep and left them swinging but blessedly sleeping all night

I am that mom who spent many nights sleeping outside the bedroom door on the floor just to be able to call out “it’s ok, mommy is right here”

I am that mom who was not invited back to a play date after my kids threw a tantrum to beat all tantrums….that’s ok we have other friends : )

I am that mom so traumatized by potty training we can’t talk about it

I am that mom who has lost it (yep totally and utterly had an out of body experience) MANY times over

I am that mom who tries not to break down in the grocery store and buy what my children are begging for but who sometimes does

I am that mom who stares at Pinterest  longingly but doesn’t have a crafty bone in her body (sorry mom and Grandma Hazel)

I am that mom who runs a business and a household and tries for balance and sometimes fails and I’m learning to be ok with that

I am that mom who really, truly wants to be a morning person but I’m just not

I am that mom who makes peanut butter and jelly for breakfast, lunch and dinner because eating something is better than nothing

I am that mom who hears the experts say just don’t give them anything then they will eat and I say “yep I hear you, but turns out sometimes they will just starve themselves”

I am that mom who leaps over piles of laundry (good exercise) and who only opens the door a fraction for surprise guests

I am that mom who wears a baseball cap because who really has time to wash hair ALL the time!

I am that mom who takes on volunteer leadership positions and then makes hard unpopular decisions because they are the right thing to do

I am that mom who has children with special needs and I’m ok with that

I am that mom who prays daily but is a sinner

I am that mom who writes a blog and runs a business about faith, family, dreams and becoming a mompreneur and sometimes my faith is as small as a mustard seed

I am that mom who loves her children more than anything in the world but sometimes wants to change her name from “MOM”

I am that mom who wanted everyone to like her but has realized that’s just not possible and I’m learning to be ok with that

I am that mom who says halleluiah for electronics because then my husband and I can share a meal out with our children (yep totally ok with that, judge me if you will I’ve learned not to)

I am a mom who has given and gotten “the look” from other moms who are judging…oh how I have prayed for that single offense many times over

I am that mom who even though totally exhausted at night will read a book to my boys because you never get that time back

I am that mom who is trying to blend a Christian household with a non-Christian world, and though it’s hard I will succeed

I am a that mom who is doing the best I can and my best is not perfect and that’s ok with me

Who are you?

God made you unique with your own goals and dreams and my prayer for you is to be ok with who you are!

Until next time here’s to all your Possibilities!

Southern sweetheart Entrepreneur Dixie McDaniel de Andrade is a speaker who delivers a powerful punch providing inspiration, and how-to solutions to moms of faith. As an author and certified coach, she founded international coaching company Envision Possibilities to teach other moms to stop settling, tailor make their lives, take action on their dreams all while honoring their own family values!  Dixie is a world-class trainer; having begun her career in international development with the World Bank and spending over a decade working in training and development with multi-national non-profits and governments, speaking and training international audiences from over 100 countries. Envision Possibilities is in business to help Moms worldwide find balance, make money, start their own endeavors (if that’s their heart’s desire), and to live happily through faith. Connect with her on Facebook at Envision Possibilities or Twitter @CoachDixie and sign up for her newsletter on our home page.