Mom of a Million Mistakes: Just Be Enough

As mothers, we always take on too much. We say "yes" when we truly only have time for "no". We risk burnout and forgo sleep in order to please others, please our families, and especially, try and appease that unrealistic ideal we have in our heads of the perfect woman.

It is exhausting.

And it is our own self-imposed, pressure-y, issue-y, b.s.

We do not have to do it all or please everyone. We do not have to be Michelle Duggar of the family, Sandra Day O'Connor of the career, Mother Teresa of the community, June Cleaver of the house and Jillian Michaels of the gym...all by five o'clock

All we have to do is just be enough. We just do what we can do while keeping our sanity and loving our people. We need to give ourselves a break.

At least that is what I am telling myself, thanks to my friend Elena Sonnino - who has started the incredible new website and campaign for women, Just Be Enough. She is encouraging women with blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts to spread the word to other women under pressure that doing one's best is just fine thankyouverymuch.

Sonnino writes,

Imagine feeling taller. Imagine feeling stronger from the inside out. Imagine knowing and BELIEVING that you are strong. It is time to carry the weight of empowerment instead of the weight of our flaws on our shoulders.

Since we women need a reason to give ourselves a break, Just Be Enough has provided an incentive for us to throw off the pressure of unattainable ideals. For every 20 people who post a link to their Just Be Enough story from their blog or post to the Just Be Enough Facebook page, a great donation will be made by Bellflower Books. Bellflower Books will donate a memory book to a woman fighting breast cancer through Crickett's Answer, a non-profit dedicated to providing tangible assistance to breast cancer patients. 

Imagine that. You get to help out a charity by doing less. Now that's a cause this anxiety-ridden, over-scheduled, self-deprecating mama can get behind.

Jessica McFadden is a neurotic mom of three who has scrawled "Just Be Enough" as the number one priority on her massive to-do list. She writes at A Parent in Silver Spring and elsewhere.