The Poopsie Collective

My Proudest Mom Moments

Written by ERICA 

In the past, I’ve shared plenty of moments that I am NOT proud of as a mom. I’ve happily dished on things I’ve done that maybe I’m a little embarrassed about. I’ve talked about crapping myself during childbirth (3 times!), eating my son’s chewed up food, about my irrational fear of birds, my dependence on stretch pants, and my potty mouth. I would happily shout “I SUCKED AT BREASTFEEDING” from the mountaintops or tell you that this morning I let my kid eat food off the dirty (and very public) floor. I’m not exactly proud of any of those behaviors, but I can also share my faults with minimal humiliation because I’m a mom, and moms make mistakes all the time.

As it turns out, it’s pretty easy to recall and share your less stellar moments of motherhood. On the flip side, it’s a lot harder to think about the experiences that you ARE proud of. Maybe it’s because confidence can quickly become cocky, or because if you discuss your achievements you run the risk of sounding arrogant. I get it… nobody wants to be that girl. “Ooooh look at me… today I baked a pie and climbed a mountain and fed the homeless and knit a sweater and wrote a novel and waxed my own bikini and still managed to put a home-cooked meal on the table.” NOBODY LIKES A SHOWOFF.

But today I realized something: motherhood is filled with uphill battles, frustrating scenarios and no-win situations. Yes, you have to be able to laugh at your blunders. But you also HAVE to focus on the moments that make you feel accomplished. It’s OK to want to be praised for your good days and it’s not only OK, but also essential, that you be your own biggest supporter. After all, if you don’t give yourself a pat on the back for changing your kid’s poopy diaper while he’s standing up in the backseat of your car, who will? 

So, at the risk of sounding totally obnoxious, here are a few of my proud mom moments (not counting the obvious, when I actually squeezed a human being out of my lady parts)… 

Traveling Solo with Two “Kids” – When AJ was away on business I decided to take Owen and our puppy to New York, by myself. Sydney, our 17-pound Schnoodle, in her dog carrier on one arm, Owen in my other. It was exhausting, my back hurt, my head hurt and I had to go about 6 hours without peeing, which is hard when the only thing keeping you awake is chugging coffee. But I did it. And every time a passerby would say, “wow, you’ve got your hands full, you’re a brave mom” I would smile to myself and think, “damn straight.”

Anything to keep him happy at 35,000 feet…

Running My First Post-Motherhood Marathon – I had to take almost a year off from the adrenalin rush of running when I was pregnant. So when I completed my 5th NYC Marathon on the same weekend that Owen turned 11 months old, and finished with my fastest time yet, I felt on top of the world. But there is nothing like a sloppy kiss from your toddler, followed by a massive dirty diaper, to knock you back to reality when you get home.

Successful Mealtime – I am lucky…Owen is a really good eater. And he always has been. Pretty sure that has nothing to do with me or my cooking. But AJ has a much more demanding palette. So if I’m able to make a meal (after a long day of entertaining a 17-month-old, mind you) that both Owen and AJ devour, then I think I’ve earned that glass of wine I guzzle at dinnertime. 

Diaper Changing Combat – Owen will not sit still. Never. Unless Dora the Explorer is on, he’s moving around at maniac speed. So to change a diaper without the contents of said dirty diaper ending up on my nice white rug is a challenge. 9 times out of 10 I am sweating bullets by the time a new Pampers is covering O’s crack. So every time I find a new way to keep my kiddo occupied while I wipe his a$$ I get a huge sense of pride. 

Possibly the only time a toddler diaper change has been this easy.

Thank You Mommy – Owen has become very verbal over the past few months. He went from saying one word to full phrases to saying those same phrases at appropriate times, showing me that he actually understands what he’s saying, at least in theory. And one of his most recent favorites is “thank you” after I give him a toy, hand him his water, or put on his shoes. I swear to god I almost eat his face off when he says that. I honestly feel more proud when my little munchkin shows some appreciation and affection than I ever did when I got a promotion at work or an A in college. 

Bottom line: I am finally realizing how important it is to toot your own horn from time to time. I get that if you don’t relish in your own successes as a mom, you’ll surely feel overwhelmed by your failures. Because we do all make mistakes, and we do all have many moments we’re not proud of. But for every bad decision there are a million things we do right to make our kids feel special, safe and loved on a daily basis. So go ahead, share your proudest success stories below…Even if it’s just for a few minutes, take pride in your mothering! You’ve earned it!

Facebook: Acknowledgement for Moms

Written by BROOKE

I know you have one of these friends too. On a daily basis her Facebook status usually says something like the following:

“Gave birth, ran 12 miles, canned tomatoes I grew in my own garden, cleaned my baseboards with a toothbrush, made my family an organic dinner, took some to the neighbors, whipped up a batch of homemade bread with wheat I ground myself and now I’m pooped! Time for The Bachelor!” 

Gag. Overachiever. Why does she have to post that on Facebook? Does she want the rest of us to feel bad about ourselves? Job well done. 

And then, the other day I did it, too. I Facebook-bragged about cleaning. It was only my pantry; I cleaned it out and organized it. It was something that had been on my to-do list for about, umm, four years (not joking). I did it. And, well, I knew something. I knew that my KIDS were not going to open up the pantry and say “Wow mom! Look how clean and organized this is! It must have taken you all day! Good job, thanks!” I mean, if they said anything remotely like that I would have keeled over and died right there on the spot. No, they just wanted to know where their snacks were now. And my husband? Well I SHOULD be able to count on him to acknowledge that type of thing but let’s be honest. He’s also pretty much only worrying about snacks. I learned the lesson about him and acknowledgement when I proudly showed him one of the cupboards I had spent all day reorganizing in the kitchen shortly after Zach was born. I was SO proud of my productivity. His response? To open up another cupboard, unorganized and overflowing with stuff, and say “What about this one?” I gave up on him after that. 

So what’s a mom to do? I mean come on, I spent ALL day on this project! So I did it. I wrote about it on Facebook. And you know what? It made me feel good! I got the virtual pats on the back from my mom friends. Even those virtual thumbs up brought me a little smile and made me feel like, see, I’m doing a good job here! 

I even took a picture of part of my organized pantry: the snack basket I made for the kids (which turned out to be an epic fail but that’s for another post!)  

And the best part? I didn’t have to post the next day that we stayed in our pajamas and watched movies all day. Nope, no one has to know about that. So now, instead of rolling my eyes at my friends who post about their productive days, I acknowledge them. I tell them, “good job supermom!” or “I could never do that!” After all, isn’t that what we’re all looking for? A little pat on the back for the thankless job we do every day. Thank you Facebook for giving us moms a place to be acknowledged for all the hard work we do.