I’m not Supermom.

Some of you may have noticed my Facebook status a few days ago about the fact that I’m not Supermom, and you may be wondering what that was all about.

We moms tend to put a lot of pressure on ourselves to do everything the “right” way. And then we beat ourselves up when we don’t do things the “right” way, or we discover the “right” way isn’t really working for us. Then we feel like failures because we didn’t live up to the expectations, whether they were our own expectations, someone else’s, or even expectations that came out of nowhere logical.

But there’s no need to beat ourselves up! Because really, what is the “right” way? As long as our kids are healthy and happy and know they’re loved, it’s the “right” way.

How did I go down this tangent?

It was the baby food.

I love the idea of making my own baby food. But the execution of said idea has gotten to the point where it’s more overwhelming and stressful than anything. My baby is eating so much these days, it’s getting really hard for me to keep up with him. The price of organic fruit isn’t all that great. The selection available to us isn’t all that great either.

There are other reasons too, but those are just personal temperament preferences I won’t get into here.

So, when I realized I was low on frozen baby food and facing another huge chunk of time in the kitchen preparing more, I caved. I talked to my husband and said “Babe, I can’t do it all anymore. It’s not working for my temperament. We need to figure out an alternative.”

And I don’t feel the least bit bad or guilty about it.

Which is HUGE progress for me!

I have an unfortunate tendency to work up in my mind what I think other peoples’ expectations are of me. I’ll keep doing something I don’t like, or something that’s not working for me, because I’m afraid of what other people will say. And that is ridiculous.

What it comes down to is I have to do what works for me and for my household. My household is individual and unique. We have to find the balance and the methods that work best for us. The ultimate goal is to have peace and harmony in our home. That looks different for us than it may for other families. And it’s okay! God created everyone different and unique, and thus all families are different and unique. It takes all kinds of different and unique people to make up the Kingdom of God.

So what are we going to do?

We sat down and talked about the issue. I really do want to continue making some of the baby’s food. So I can do just the vegetables. Organic vegetables don’t cost as much as organic fruit, and the veggies are easier for me to prepare. My husband did a little research and discovered we can purchase organic fruit baby food very reasonably. And the load off my mind will be worth it to us.

I’m proud of us for teaming up and figuring this out. And I’m proud of myself for having taken such a big step – being secure enough in my mothering abilities to go searching for what is going to work best for us, instead of just staying where I’m at because I’m afraid of what others might say.

So I’m not Supermom. I’m still figuring this “mom” thing out. But I’m confident I’m doing a pretty good job. It seems good enough for my baby, who is happy, healthy, and loving. So it’s good enough for me.