In Defense of the Pinterest "Super"-moms

It seems that one of the latest trends is to beat up what I'm going to call "Pinterest SuperMoms" -- I've heard preachers, teachers, friends, and even, strangely enough, bloggers gripe about women not feeling good enough about their motherly/wifely/crafty skills because they don't measure up to what they see on Pinterest or Facebook or on their favorite blog.  Now, let me start out by admitting that I am not by nature a crafty person. This is MY version of a Cars-themed birthday cake:

Comparing it to the original inspiration from Pinterest...

Source: bakerlady.wordpress.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

...you can see that I could easily choose to feel a bit down about my cake decorating skills. Instead I am grateful for the good idea, and happy that my son loved his cake.

Even more, I am thankful for the existence and success of Pinterest, Blogging, Facebook, and all their various cousins, because they provide a means for extraordinarily talented women to share their clever ideas, their daily triumphs, their awkward and awesome moments. 

I'm grateful for the chance to discover that my old high school friend Kelly has such a gift for cooking (and posting recipes in a beautiful and easy-to-follow format); and that another old friend, her sister Jody, has a remarkable talent for thrifting clothes into awesome outfits.

And while I've always known my best friend Molly has an eye for finding beauty in the smallest of details and not only seeing the potential in a discarded item but also bringing it to life, I wouldn't get to enjoy that gift from halfway across the country without her blog. Thanks to her etsy shop, I can also wear some of the loveliness she creates.

You know how you can really see a Bible verse for the first time after the hundredth reading? While I was pondering the Pinterest SuperMom envy, I happened across the following encounter in a group Bible study: 

Genesis 4:6–7 (NASB95)

6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?

7 “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

  

If something you run across online makes your "countenance fall", I challenge you to take the path suggested to Cain, and find out why you are intimidated instead of inspired by the "perfect" Pinterest/blogging/facebooking mom. Find a way to share your talent, whatever it is, instead of allowing jealousy or bitterness to take root.

Dressed for Work

I had a bit of an epiphany this morning, after another night of oft-interrupted sleep due to a sick toddler, a baby simultaneously squeezing out my bladder and my stomach, and the Nyquil-and-congestion-induced snoring of my husband. After taking care of the essentials of my morning hygiene, I was debating contacts/glasses and eyeliner/just a lazy dash of boring brown shadow. I knew I wouldn't be taking the kids anywhere today, and even the odds of seeing my husband for more than five minutes before he hits the bed with another dose of cold meds were slimmer than a model at Paris Fashion Week. And if I wore glasses, I wouldn't feel bad about wasting a pair of disposable contacts if the stars should align for me to take a nap.

Then out of nowhere I realized that, for me, choosing to forgo the mascara and contacts means that I'm not really getting dressed for "work". I've given up on the day before the red tail-lights of my neighbor's Subaru light up my bathroom and warn me that "Arnold the Owl" will be releasing my eldest from her bedroom in the very near future. Not that I don't expect it can be a good day -- just that I am giving myself a pass on giving my all to my work. That wouldn't be okay if I had a boss to report to, and it is even worse when it is my family counting on me. 

So my new policy is that unless I am too sick to get out of bed, I'm putting on that full "face" and ramping up my ambition to go for the contacts. Now if only I can come up with a justifiable reason to need that sleek and chic blue dress from Shabby Apple in order to be "dressed for work"...

Another Year of Change

If you had told me a year ago that 2011 would bring as much (or more) change than 2010, I would have laid down and died of exhaustion. Or laughed maniacally until the gentlemen in the white coats came along. Possibly both, in one order or the other.

And yet, the last few months were super-saturated with change. Jon and I are still slowly absorbing everything that has happened, because there is only so much your brain can take in and really appreciate at one time. Another baby on the way. A new job. A new state. A new house. A choice to bike instead of having a second car. 

And of course, the corollary endings and farewells. The sale of a house, the goodbyes to friendships that had only just taken firm root, leaving another beloved church family.

Those are just the Big Things, in the midst of which are the smaller but just as meaningful everyday shiftings that come with life, especially life with preschoolers. My toddler becoming a little girl, my baby boy starting to figure out the world. Another new soul growing a body and preparing to join us and change everything again.

I think it's nap time.

After that, we'll see what 2012 brings.