“I want you to mess up. I want every mom reading this to mess up. I want you to mess up often; heck, multiple times daily will suffice.
I want you to sleep through your alarm. I want for you to wake up and realize you never even set that bad boy for 5:30 a.m.
I want you to spill the milk. I want you to run out of milk. I want you to burn the biscuits. I want you to refuse even to make biscuits and offer up frozen waffles instead.
I want you to forget to wash your child’s spirit shirt. I want you to forget to wash your shirt. I want you to forget it’s ‘picture day.’ I want you to forget you volunteered to work picture day.
I want you to forget to pack your child’s lunch. I want you to pack them a hodgepodge lunch because that’s all you could make happen with the contents of your fridge. I want you to keep working and forget to eat lunch. I want you to forget about your diet when you eat lunch. I want you to watch BRAVO while you eat lunch.
I want you to miss trash day. I want you to leave your trash out all week because you can’t remember what day that is. I want you to accidentally wash the baby’s soiled diaper with your family’s clothes. I want you to forget to put a diaper back on your baby in middle-of-the-night delirium.
I want you to leave your power-sliding van door open. I want you to neglect your car’s interior. I want you to neglect your interior (don’t worry it will match your exterior).
I want you to accidentally return your daughter’s school library book to the public library. I want you to forget how to get to the closest public library.
I want you to get distracted by your phone at story time. I want for you to forget to make room in your photo library to document all that song and story fun. I want you to forget your phone. I want you to forget to charge your phone.
I want you to forget to cancel your daughter’s swimming class. I want you to get sidetracked and miss swimming. I want you to get to swimming only to realize you forget a swimsuit and a towel.
I want you to go to the grocery store and forget why you went. I want you to get all the way to the checkout line and realize you don’t have your wallet. I want you to misplace your grocery list and the winning lottery ticket. I want you to forget that both of those are in the same place you left your sanity — at home.
I want you to be super early for pick-up. I want you to be unintentionally late for pick-up. I want for you to cry in front of your kids. I want for you to fight in front of your kids. I want for you to struggle in front of your kids. I want you to yell.
I want you to say yes to that birthday party and skimp on self-care. I want you to say no to that birthday party and indulge in self-care instead. I want you to rush bedtime. I want you to Netflix and chill instead of clean and work.
If you haven’t gotten the point yet, I want you to mess up. I want you to mess up often and in many ways.
And, then, what I want for you to do is…forgive yourself.
That’s all.
‘It is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not lived at all. In which case, you have failed by default.’ – J.K. Rowling
‘But Daddy never messes up,’ my son added.
‘Yes, I know, little one, he was one of those who was born perfect.'”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Nicole Merritt of Jthreenme. You can follow Nicole on Facebook, her website or podcast.
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