Mom, You’re Doing Great!

Finding Freedom From Self-Criticism in the Everyday Work of Motherhood

By Catriona Futter

I was talking recently with a dear friend about her season of motherhood. She has young children; she and her husband both work and hold significant ministry commitments. She does most of the homemaking, caring for the children, and being everyone’s PA and chief organizer. Does this sound familiar at all?

Talking with her, I am struck by how hard she is being on herself. All she can see at the end of the day is the long list of uncompleted tasks and areas of motherhood where she has not gotten it right—snapping at one of her kids, dinner late and thrown together, the toppling pile of laundry, conversation with her husband functional and brief at best.

I hug her, telling her that she is doing an amazing job, that she is enough.

Curbing Our Self-Judgement

Why are we so hard on ourselves as women?

Especially as mothers, whatever we do seems to come with a hefty side order of guilt. Our brains are negatively biased, and we more quickly spot what has gone wrong and where we have failed. In so doing, we quickly condemn ourselves. This is exhausting, and it is not God’s heart for us. He delights in us, rejoices over us with singing (Zeph. 3:17), and greets us with open arms of love.

What would it look like for us to begin to celebrate our roles as mothers with a little more kindness and self-respect?