The Conference - Mom Heart by Sally Clarkson

Pin It Finally!  I'm going to blog about the Mom Heart conference!

I came home and people asked me to tell them about it and I found that I couldn't.  There wasn't a whole lot of processing time during the conference, and then we got home and hit the ground running.

The theme of the conference was perfect for me though:  My Mom Heart Matters.  Sally Clarkson is a fabulous speaker, very engaging and very real.  THOROUGHLY enjoyed her!  I think I would have totally loved to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea with her!

One of the areas in which I struggle is feeling like I don't matter.  I'm the maid, the nurse, the cook, the nanny, and the teacher.  All of this is fine, but it's so easy to get bogged down in all of the STUFF and not take care of myself and then get all resentful.  Not only that, but somehow I've bought into the lie that I MUST do all of this stuff, and taking care of myself is fine as long as it doesn't interfere with the important stuff that I have to do.  Somewhere along the line I convinced myself that it is selfish to take a few minutes for myself.  I totally get that it can become a selfish thing, but it's okay to get up in the morning and enjoy a cup of coffee and sit in a quiet house.    

Someone just recently told me that our children are not going to grow up and say "hey!  You know what?  My mom was always on top of the laundry!  That is what I appreciate about my mom!"  (Although - I do have to say - my grandmother was a STELLAR dishwasher packer.  I have inherited that fine skill.  So maybe there will be some appreciation for my laundry ability to trickle down.  Beside the point though!)  I don't want to be so bogged down in the STUFF that I can't enjoy my life.  The laundry will always be there - just today I got every bit of it sorted, washed, dried, folded, and put away, and guess what.  The laundry basket is filled again.  Such is life.

So ... my takeaway from the conference?  I matter.  My heart for my family matters.  It's okay if I leave the laundry some days and just relax and laugh at the silly antics of the kids, or sit and read a book.  Yeah, I know it still all has to be done, but maybe if I can relax a little, then when it has to be done, I'll be refreshed enough to enjoy it, or at least get through it with a happy heart.

(I will never be refreshed enough to enjoy vacuuming.  Just saying.  There is no refreshment in the world that would make vacuuming enjoyable.  Unless my vacuum cleaner starts spouting out Vera Bradley bags and camera lenses, I will always detest vacuuming and will pass that task off to someone else in the family.)

Okay, there are two more points that she hit during the conference that I want to blog about.  I think this is long enough for today though, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.