When my kids won’t nap, I start down a list of questions as to why that might be.
Are they feeling ok?
Did they eat enough lunch?
Are they bothering each other and need to be split up?
Did they burn off enough energy this morning?
Did I put them down too early?
And if I’m not careful, there will be a slippery slope of Mommy Guilt that gets bigger and bigger.
Are they feeling ok? Did I miss a sign that they were sick?
Did they eat enough lunch? I should make things I know they’ll like and eat.
Are they bothering each other and need to be split up? We shouldn’t make them share a room.
Did they burn off enough energy this morning? Why did I not bundle them up and create games in the frigid morning air?
Did I put them down too early? Did I just do what was best for me and put them down at the right time even though I knew they weren’t tired?
Mommy Guilt may rear its head like an ugly monster. It may pry its way into my thoughts. But that doesn’t mean it gets to set up residency in my mind.
2 Corinthians 10:5 says:
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
So how do we take the Mommy Guilt thoughts captive? We turn them over to God.
To help do that, there are Bible verses I come to time and again. As of late, I’ve especially been repeating this verse:
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. – 2 Corinthians 12:9
[Other encouraging verses are: Philippians 4:13, Hebrews 4:16, Deuteronomy 31:6, Romans 8:28, Joshua 1:9, Isaiah 41:10, Proverbs 14:26, 1 John 5:14, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Psalm 55:22, Matthew 11:28, Psalm 34:19]
In this season of interrupted sleep, working weird hours, and our Tennessee winter not making up its mind to stay or go, my brain is a fog. So I made 13 verses to combat Mommy Guilt into index cards to hang around my house, or more likely, sit by the kitchen sink to look at over and over.
I thought you might like them too. All you have to do is put in your email address, and you’ll have the PDF download of 13 Verses to Combat Mommy Guilt ready for you.
[Click here to download 13 Verses to Combat Mommy Guilt.]
I hope you enjoy these. And please feel free to share this post with a friend if you think she might need it too.
This is exactly what I needed to read today. The mommy guilt gets me every day, and I really struggle with feeling like I’m not doing the right things by them. Thank you for sharing this at Mama Moments Monday, it’s so great to know that I’m not alone in feeling this way!
Where can I download the verses? I signed up to see them 🙂
Hey Tata
If you subscribe to the weekly emails, the link is below the signature. It sometimes says “members only area” or “get your family mission statement plan” (because it’s in a library with a bunch of cool stuff for my readers) Let me know if you have trouble finding it