Being a mom can be hard. Sometimes it feels like there is no end to the things you need to do and the responsibilities that fill your day. It’s easy to find yourself running on empty or wondering how you’ll ever get through all of this. From household tasks, to running our professional, social and personal lives, there is little time left at the end of the day. Usually, humor gets me through, but when things are especially hard, I dig into the mushy stuff.
Below are 20 quotes that have helped me stay grounded, cared for and sane:
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“The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.” ― Peggy O’Mara
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“Don’t stand unmoving outside the door of a crying baby whose only desire is to touch you. Go to your baby. Go to your baby a million times. Demonstrate that people can be trusted, that the environment can be trusted, that we live in a benign universe.” ― Peggy O’Mara
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“Take the time to listen to children. Believe what they tell you about themselves.” — Issa Waters
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“We must remember that one day our children are going to follow our example instead of our advice.” — Carolina King
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“If you want your children to improve, let them overhear the nice things you say about them to others.” — Haim Ginott
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“After a moment, he calmed enough to see how his anger was a separate thing inside him, a dingy, surprise gift from his father.” ― Maggie Stiefvater, The Dream Thieves
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“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should’ve behaved better.” — Anne Lamott
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“You don’t have to love yourself in muttered whispers while loving everyone else with a megaphone.” ― Jasmine Farrell
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“I hate men who are afraid of women’s strength.” — Anaïs Nin
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“It’s not my responsibility to be beautiful. I’m not alive for that purpose. My existence is not about how desirable you find me.” — Warsan Shire
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“Discipline is helping a child solve a problem. Punishment is making a child suffer from having a problem. To raise problem solvers, focus on solutions, not retribution.” — L. R. Knost
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“When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it’s our job to share our calm, not join their chaos.” — L. R. Knost
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“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” —Buddha
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“Be so completely yourself that everyone else feels safe to be themselves, too.” —Unknown
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“Keep watering yourself. You’re growing.” — E. Russell
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“Ever had a job where you had no experience, no training, you weren’t allowed to quit and people’s lives were at stake? That’s parenting.” — Unknown
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“Having kids makes you look stable to the people who thought you were crazy and crazy to the people who thought you were stable.” — Kelly Oxford
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“Saying ‘no’ to your children, when appropriate, is an act of love.” — Frank Sonnenberg, ‘Listen To Your Conscience’
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“Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them.” — Bill Ayers
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“We must teach our children to dream with their eyes open.” — Harry Edwards
I also like to remind myself that my kids are always making memories. Usually my little voice whispers this to me when I have been yelling a lot (I’m working on it), but then I chose to give them a memory of an apology rather than needless screaming.
These quotes really work for me and even though many of us choose to parent slightly differently, I’m curious what quotes stand out and help shape you into the mother you are or the mother you want to be. Share them below in the comments!
