It’s not a competition y’all. Have mercy, I know it feels like it sometimes. But I promise that there are no trophies, gold stars, tiaras or medals coming your way. What a world it would be if we could all just let each other be ourselves and learn our lessons in peace without taking it personally and telling that sweet girl over there how she SHOULD be living her life. Stay in your lane. If your lane makes you feels like you are winning good for you. Just be careful…Miss Judgey pants is always lurking. She hides inside our heads and can steal joy faster than anyone I know. Here is a small list of thoughts based on things I hear all the time that can make life feel like some sort of Olympic event. And for all the mamas out there that may be reading this….I see you, I hear you and I’m with you no matter what. The pressure feels real. It’s not. It has so much more to do with what we allow to influence us and what we choose to believe. ❤️🐘❤️

FYI-all of these work both ways!

*It’s okay for her to feed her family homemade organic meals while you run through the drive-thru, order pizza or microwave nuggets. 

*It’s okay for her to work while you stay at home. 

*It’s okay for her to bottle feed while you breastfeed.

*It’s okay for her to not let her kids be involved in every activity on the planet while you run around like a crazy person.

*It’s okay for her to believe that her kids are rockstar athletes, artists, performers and students while you are just trying to get your kids to brush their teeth, change their underwear and wear deodorant.

*It’s okay for your kids to not be on green, get A’s and be the line leader while her kids are Honor Students of the Century.

*It’s okay to let your kids experience the natural and logical consequences of their decisions while she helicopters, rescues and fixes.

*It’s okay for her to choose the kind of education that is right for her kids even if it looks different than what you chose.

*It’s okay for her to drink water while you drink wine.

*It’s okay for her to relax on the beach with a book while you run marathons and monitor your heart rate.

*It’s okay for her to eat clean while you eat whatever the heck you want. 

*It’s okay for you to change while she stays the same.

*It’s okay to have different goals and definitions of success.

*It’s okay to disagree on topics that are of great importance to you.

*It’s okay to love who you want to love, live life on your own terms, not take all the things personally and figure it out along the way.

We are different. Remarkably so. 

And it is more than okay…it is beautiful.

We all have our sore spots. The places that are tender and susceptible to waves of insecurity. They show us where we have work to do. Learning to love and respect our differences can be tough.  Learning to love everyone else’s is tougher. Let’s at least commit to trying. Miss Judgey Pants is tired.  ❤️🐘❤️