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I have a confession to make. I don’t wear every hat well.
If I did, I would be the perfect mom, and the perfect mom only exists in fairy tales.
Actually, there are zero fairy tales about moms.
They’re all about princesses finding true love and living happily ever after.
Do we really have to wonder why moms aren’t in fairy tales?
Are you tired of trying to be the perfect mom?
My kids didn’t get one – why should yours?
But maybe you’re doing better than you perceive. What if I showed you 3 positive traits you didn’t realize you possessed?
On this last day of hats mom wears – a quiz to uncover your strengths and steer those perfectionistic mom-thoughts in a positive direction!
“One thing they never tell you about child raising is that for the rest of your life, at the drop of a hat, you are expected to know your child’s name and how old he or she is.” ~Erma Bombeck
What mom-hats do you enjoy wearing the most?
Grab a pencil stub and a piece of ripped off envelope for writing (because you’re a mom and that’s your jam).
Take a minute to scan down the following list of hats and pick three roles you enjoy.
Day 1: The nurse’s cap – how to be a good nurse to your kids
Day 2: The chef’s hat – 6 practical tips for feeding your tribe
Day 3: The Sports Hat – How to create balance and support
Day 4: The Referee Hat – 7 rules to make sound calls
Day 5: The Taxi Hat – How to make memories in the car
Day 6: The Kentucky Derby Hat – How to guide her inner fashionista
Day 7: The Fire Helmet – Remaining alert to potential fire hazards
Day 8: The helmet of salvation – rocking the chic armor ensemble
Day 9: The Cowboy Hat – 6 ways to keep a watchful eye on your herd
Day 10: The nightcap – 6 ways to reclaim your sleep – plus a sleepwalker bonus
Day 11: The Pilgrim Hat – How to create a family map
Day 12: The Party Hat – How to celebrate simply
Day 13: The Ringmaster Hat – How to run your own circus (and join in the fun)
Day 14: The Graduation Cap – How to choose an educational route for your kids
Day 15: The Sherlock cap – 6 clues to solving sneaky behavior
Day 16: The Santa Cap – 6 ways to plan your family traditions
Day 17: The Bicycle Helmet – A parent’s adventure from riding to driving
Day 18: The Rock Climbing Helmet – Belay your fears and seize opportunity
Day 19: The Captain’s Hat – How to chart a course for your child’s future
Day 20: The Hard Hat – 5 resources for hurting parents
Day 21: The Gilligan Hat – How to escape the island and save your sanity
Day 22: The money hat – 5 habits to create a debt-free lifestyle
Day 23: The Janitor Cap – Reality check for the neat freak
Day 24: The thinking cap – how to make wise decisions amidst every-day mayhem
Day 25: The Safari Hat – How to survive life with critters
Day 26: The Swim Cap – 5 ways to sneak in exercise and still have a life
Day 27: The Mechanic Cap: Simple tips to keep the family car functional
Day 28: The Shower Cap: Practical beauty tips and wisdom for life
Day 29: The Painter’s Cap: 4 things to consider before a home improvement project
Day 30: The Easter Bonnet: The number one reason for moms to celebrate the resurrection
Three favorite hats
1. Write down your three favorite roles as a mom.
2. List one positive connection with your child (or children) that has resulted because of each one.
For example:
Three roles I love most about being a mom:
1. Cooking (The Chef’s Hat)
My kitchen remains the hub of activity and family bonding. There’s no substitute for dinner table conversation.
2. Laughing (The Ringmaster Hat)
Humor is our family love language. Everyone gets the joke. And don’t even get us started on a group text.
3. Helping plan their life map (The Captain’s Hat)
My kids seek me out to discuss future plans and goals. Deep, soul-searching talks are the stuff my dreams are made of.
What mom-hats do you enjoy wearing the least?
1. Pick 3 hats you hate, loathe entirely dislike.
Go ahead. I’ll wait.
2. Recall 3 positive connections because of them
(AHA!! You thought I was going to say negative!)
Here are mine:
3 roles I least enjoy about being a mom:
1. The nurse (I hate blood, guts, and vomit)
However – two out of four kids prefer me as nurse over their dad, so I must have done something right. (He possesses innate nursing skills. It’s sickening.)
2. The party hat (all my kid’s b-days are in the spring so it’s overkill. May stresses me out.)
However – I’ve still managed to pull awesome parties out of the hat. My girls reminisce about their surprise sweet 16’s.
3. The money hat (I’m terrible at math)
However – I kept the books during the lean years, and also became a master of simple, cheap skate meals, saving us from eating out and wasting money.
The Grace Hat
Even though we don't rock every single hat, we moms possess good intentions. Click To Tweet“It is not until you become a mother that your judgment slowly turns to compassion and understanding.” ~Erma Bombeck
This post is not about the mistakes you’ve made.
It’s about focusing on the positive. Did you discover something about yourself that you hadn’t realized before?
Can you see progress in an area you don’t enjoy?
If not – keep looking – it’s probably not as bad as you think.
What phase of life are you in?
I wear a sun visor on family beach vacations. I adore the seashore.
Every summer, we’ve hooked up the camper, piled the kids in the SUV, and took off for the ocean.
Seeking inspiration from vacation memories, I sent my family a group text:
mom: What is your favorite beach memory?
#4: You dumping sand down my bathing suit and saying, “It’s the big one, Elizabeth”.
hubs: Putt putt at our favorite place
#3: Bike rides at the campground
#2: What dad said
#1: Ben and Jerry’s
hubs: Looking at all the different types of campers
#3: The first walk to the ocean each year
#2: What dad said
#4: The smells
#1: Also putt putt
#3: Being in one big camper room all together and just having so many laughs
#1: Krispy Kreme and California Pizza
#4: our brother yelling as people walked by our camper
You can tell #2 is not a texter. That’s because #2 is a boy. Also the yeller.
And yes, I did dump sand down my seven-year old’s bathing suit, but she did it first.
So. Many. Memories.
I get to wear the sun visor a good deal these days because I travel with my husband on his work trips (which take us ocean side).
Due to the fact that almost all the kids are out of the nest.
God knew that was my favorite hat.
And He also knew that letting my kids go would prove much harder than I anticipated.
God has gifted me in this near-empty nest season that is so very bittersweet.
What special hat has God gifted you with in this season of life? It may be a hat like my sun visor – one you love, yet, it means accepting a bittersweet change in circumstances.
Embrace your special hat.
Allow God to teach you all He has for you in this season. Click To Tweet
Enjoy your favorite hats, and savor the significant connections that come with each.
Be encouraged with your growth in those less desirable hats, and I challenge you to pick one thing from that group to focus on improving. I will do the same.
Lastly, I leave you with my most favorite verse in this season of life, which speaks hope to the anxious mama’s heart:
“Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” ~Proverbs 31:25
{Thank you for joining me for “31 Hats MOM Wears” during the month of October! If you are an email subscriber, I hope you’ve enjoyed the posts each day (although I do apologize for a daily email. I did feel badly about that). Things at Rear.Release.Regroup will settle back down to the regularly scheduled program of 3 posts per week – with the exception of the next 2-3 while I get my house back in order and resume exercising the atrophying muscles. If you aren’t an email subscriber, I’d love to have you along for the journey – just enter your email in the box underneath my picture in the upper right hand corner! And thank you, one and all loyal readers, for indulging a mom and her hats. May you frequent this place often and find it warm, welcoming, and a full of joy!}
I’ll have to think about my answers to your questions but I just had to go ahead and get over here to celebrate with you that you did this! Love this last post and that grace hat. So excited for this to become a book! Awesome-sauce all around dear friend.
Girl. I’ve struggled for 2 days on this freaking post. All I know is, it’s a good thing there aren’t 32 days in October cause I ain’t got no more juices flowin’!
Thank you so much for your continued support. You are so dear to me. We really need to meet face to face. Also, I read your newsletter and I am SO SO excited for you – I’ve known from the beginning that you would be big business someday. And, you shall. 😉
You’re series was so much fun. Moms do wear so many different hats…some better than others. Congrats!! We made it!!
Tara! We MADE IT!!!! And thank you so much, friend. I’m so happy I’m not gonna write till FIVE MINUTE FRIDAY!!
You did an AWESOME job on this Ruthie. The fact you did it everyday with so much wisdom and information amazes me. Encouraging for mothers no matte what stage of motherhood they are in. I said it before, I’ll say it again, you should turn this into a book! Have a lovely weekend and I thought I would see tiny tornado in a Halloween costume on Instagram. Although, we never celebrated Halloween with our kiddos growing up – just wasn’t our thing. Wasn’t sure if your family did or not. Either way, have a wonderful weekend. A great series!
Michelle! You are always so supportive and encouraging. I had such a hard time writing this post! It was all God. Actually, they all were, but He really pulled me through this one. And yes – ebook! Very soon! Don’t worry, I’ll post an insta pic of batman aka “fatman” for ya. We do Halloween round these parts. 😉 Thanks so much again. Now I’ll be back over to visit!!!
What a great way to end your series! I enjoyed it so much! Yes, an ebook for your series, for sure! WE DID IT!
Christy, thank you for your faithfulness to read, I plan to stop by and catch up with your story, I found it so nostalgic and interesting!! We did indeed do it. Praise be. And now, I need a nap. 😉
I so adore this post and the entire series. You rocked it Gigi. One thing though: soul-earching? Really? YSFAM in her proofreader’s hat. I love you friend I’ve never met IRL – but that may change because there might be a road trip in the future…get out the hospitality hat. LOL
Mimi, thanks for the tip – I even remembered spell-check this time – UGH!! And YES. You need to make your way over here for some mountainous sightseeing! Thanks for all the encouragement and support, and for inviting me to the survival group – what a blessing indeed, because truly without the support of so many I would have gone under! I’m coming to read your day 31 today! (After church and a nap.;) YSFAM!
Hope you got that nap!!! xoxo
I sure did, Mimi – hope you got one too! 😉
I’m currently swapping out several hats to find the best one for the upcoming season… winter blues battles ? I am thankful for the wonderful friends I’ve made this #write31days
Caitlyn, I feel ya, girl. I have the same problem. Let’s keep in touch over the winter and bolster one another’s spirits! Thankful for you too! 🙂