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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

“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

#4:  What dad said

#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.

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!}