So here goes…I’m metaphorically standing naked in front of the entire Internet right now. I’m going to show you the real me. The me that is flawed and fluffy. The mom that is sometimes mean and definitely feels not-so-together most of the time. A Mom who’s just doing the best she can- just like you.

These are my life lessons. Unscripted. Unedited. (So forgive any spelling or grammar errors, m’kay?)

Life Lesson #1 Break The Rules

I started this blog two flippin’ years ago. I’ve been talking about it for the last four! So I finally started. Win for me! Woo Hoo! Did something I SAID I was going to do. That’s called follow through, people. Progress! Except…is it?

(Stick with me, I have a point, I promise!)

In two years, I’ve written 27 blog posts. That’s a whopping average of one blog post a month. There are some bloggers who post once a week or even once a day! Needless to say, I haven’t gotten very far. Why? Because I’ve been so diligently following the “blogging rules.”

What rules?!

Blogging has rules? Um. Yep. Lots of them. Anyhoo, not going to bore you with the details. Just know there’s lots of things you “should” do to get people to read your blog. I was trying so flippin’ hard to follow the rules. That just left me barely treading water, and my blog drowning.

Break the Rules

So here I am, breaking the rules. I’m sitting here ready to just word vomit all over this darned page. No one telling me what I “should” write or how I should write it. I’m doing my own thing right now.

It’s hard for me…

It’s hard for me to break the rules, because I’m so good a following them. I was a good little student, and I’m an even better employee. Tell me what to do, and I’ll eagerly do everything that I can to make you happy.

Can you relate to any of this?

Does this sound familiar to you? Are you trying hard to do what you’re supposed to do and be who you’re supposed to be? I think Moms are especially hard on themselves. Trying to follow all the “Mom Rules”…like you have to cook perfectly healthy meals, keep your house perfectly clean, and not yell at your kids and stuff. (Insert guilty giggle here.)

You have permission: Break the Rules!

You don’t need permission, but I’ll go head and give it to you anyway. Break the “Mom Rules.” Break whichever ones you hate. Because, there is no “Mom” mold. No family, no parent, and no two kids are alike!

I heard of a Mom- a friend of a friend- (She’s like a mythical Mom Unicorn!) this Mom’s New Year’s Resolution was to STOP folding laundry. What? She just puts the laundry in her kids’ drawers unfolded. Breaking. The. Rules.

Who Made Up These “Rules?!”

Really, if you think about it, who made up these rules in the first place? If we stop trying to follow what other people want or expect from us, then we can just STOP feeling guilty when we don’t live up to those expectations. We can just be ourselves. We can be our quirky-fun-slightly messy-real selves.