Years back when I was a relatively new mother with two small little girls. I had a neighbor in my condo complex that became an acquaintance of mine. She also had two children, was about the same age as me, cute, and worked out so she was in good shape. She was outgoing and into meditation. She had a type of spirituality about her.

We would often meet often for coffee and watch the kids play. Her children were a bit livelier than mine, and I began to get the feeling that she lacked confidence in her parenting skills. It was as if she was merely reacting to her children’s behavior rather than responding and leading them.

One day while taking a ride to the local shopping mall she said, “I will be so happy when these kids are 18 years old”. Her kids were 2 and 3 years old at the time! Even being in my mid-twenties, I thought to myself, “Wow, she is going to have quite the struggle raising her children with that attitude”. It was very sad to hear.

 However, the truth is, many of us have children and have no plan of how to raise them. We often lack the wisdom or even the examples and mentors to demonstrate how to do the job. Often, we put all of our energy into our kids and neglect ourselves. Or, like my old neighbor, we put a lot of energy into ourselves, leaving our kids lacking the love and structure that they need and long for. Both of these cases can affect how we experience motherhood. And instead of enjoying the time with our kids, we wish their childhood away thinking that is the answer to regaining a sense of ourselves and peace in our lives: to have our kids reach the magic age of 18 years old. It makes being a mother an all or nothing proposition, when in fact; we can be our complete, whole selves as God intended, while enjoying the call of being a mom.

 If you find yourself in a similar situation, I can help. As your Mom Coach, I offer life coaching from a Christian perspective. I can help you to assess where you are now and where you want to be. I can help you to define goals and set actionable steps that will help you to achieve the change that you want, in the areas of your life where you want change. Instead of wishing your child rearing years away, you can find purpose each day and parent with confidence and enjoy raising your kids.