Here’s the deal, mama.
I’m feeling like a pretty bad mom right now, so if you read this blog and your instinct is to email me to tell me that I’m a bad mom, let me save you some time: I’m already feeling like a bad mom and beating myself up, so you don’t need to do it.
Growth matters to me. Investing in my business matters to me — and the data shows me that investing in my business is the thing that has produced the greatest return on investment, without a doubt.
So, a few months ago, I signed up for a coaching program that included an in-person weekend mastermind session.
Once the calendar was released, I learned that attending that very expensive session means I’m missing Henry’s preschool graduation ceremony.
Here are some of the conversations I’ve had in my head over the last few weeks:
Lauren I: Can you really put a price on a child’s smile?
Lauren II: Are you freaking kidding me? He’s FIVE. Give him a Happy Meal, and he’ll forget about it.
Lauren I: My son will grow up thinking that I don’t care about him. He’ll never get into college. He’ll become a serial killer. And it will all be my fault.
Lauren II:
Lauren I: You paid a LOT of money for this mastermind. Are you really going to skip it because you feel bad?
Lauren II: I hear you, but I would really, really like to be there for Henry. It makes my heart hurt to think about missing this moment.
Lauren I: Let me ask you something. When did preschool graduation even become a thing?
Lauren I: What would you advise someone else to do in your position?
Lauren II:
From these conversations, you might conclude that I am NUTSO. That’s not entirely inaccurate — but really, are any of us ever logical when it comes to our kids?
On the one hand, I built this business so that I could be present for my kids, and now I’m skipping out on Henry’s preschool graduation. On the other hand, I built this business, and that means I can decide to take a random Tuesday in June and take Henry to an amusement park, just the two of us, and create a day that I KNOW he will remember forever.
So, yes, there’s this nagging voice that’s calling me a “bad mom,” but I’m doing my best to tell that judgy, mean voice to mind her own beeswax.
I don’t believe that choosing yourself makes you a bad mom. I know that I need to say no to some things — so that I can say YES! to others.
Have you ever made choices that left you feeling like a bad mom? Maybe you need to give up some Netflix time, a couple of date nights, and mornings with mom friends so that you can build your business. Maybe you need to sacrifice some of the time you want to spend with your kids so that you can build a business that puts you in control of your decisions.
You’re not a bad mom. And neither am I. And even if we just have to keep repeating that to ourselves, for now, it’ll sink in.
Pinky swear.
P.S. Need some support, Mama? Come hang out in the BEST Facebook group out there. We got you.
P.P.S. Did you hear my big announcement?? Free Mama Retreating happening – Get all of the details here!