Attention Moms: You are doing just fine….

This past week, my friend and I decided to take our 4 kids to Wildwood, NJ to go to the beach. We had this vision of what vacation would be like before we went. The kids laughing, kicking up water, playing nicely in the sand, warm weather, beautiful skies, going to the boardwalk and riding rides together, jumping in the pool and really soaking up a beautiful vacation away from home.

BUT — that didn’t happen.

We took the kids to the beach and within 5 minutes of getting settled, it starts to POUR down rain! We are grabbing up soaking wet towels, gathering sand toys, listening to crying kids, covering up any snacks we have before they get destroyed and taking what seemed like a mile walk back to the hotel. (Seriously, if you have been to Wildwood, you know that the beach is HUGE and it feels like the longest walk ever)!

That is pretty much how the rest of the trip went. Tons of rain, didn’t get to do all the rides, kids getting cuts, kids whining about not enough money to spend at the arcade, kids whining about each other, kids whining about walking too much, (moms, you get where this is going haha), went to the pool and got rained out again, stuck inside the hotel, pee on the couch, kids getting time outs, moms got locked out of the hotel room (yea, that happened – insert 2 minute panic attack), movie theatre sold out as we get there, bowling alley on the longest wait ever, waiting 30 minutes for a trolley with 4 kids who are not patient, forgetting tooth brushes and having to run out (and may or may not have stopped for spritzers also 😉 ), lost a shoe, kids not sleeping and two moms just trying to get make it to night time when we can sit outside and talk.

My friend and I literally laughed the WHOLE trip. We did what we could to make light out of every situation. We found the humor in it all and we kept talking about how crazy of a trip this has been. And we couldn’t imagine what the kids were thinking. Poor kids getting rained out of every single fun thing we wanted to do.

And then one of the little ones called their dad to update them on the trip. My friend and I looked at each other thinking “here we go.” And to our surprise…. she told her dad all the fun she was having. The beach was fun, the pool was fun, how everyone was being funny, how she won toys at the arcade, she got to ride fun rides, she had good food and she was having a GREAT time.

She left out every single negative moment we had on the trip. She left out the rain storms, the boo-boo’s, the time outs, all the things we couldn’t do and instead focused on all the fun she was having.

So my point is — MOMS, this is your reminder that you are doing JUST FINE.

For the mom’s who get stressed out over vacations, who get stressed out when things don’t go as planned, who just want the best time for your kids……… The FACT alone that you want to have any kind of fun with your children, makes you a GREAT mom.

Are you perfect? NOPE.

Do your kids think you are? YEP.

So keep doing what you are doing. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Don’t focus on the negative and instead find the good in every situation.

Your kids follow your reaction to events more than the events themselves.

So moms – incase you needed a reminder…..  You are doing Just Fine!

(And on days you need an extra boost, there is always wine). 😉