I am my worst enemy.

I, like every woman, am my biggest critic. I never live up to the ridiculously high standards that I set for myself. I see women around me and believe that by all appearances they have it all together. (I know that they have issues that I will never see). I never keep my house clean enough, I don't spend enough time with my kids (oh, I am always with them but cleaning and cooking while shouting at them to go play doesn't count), I don't cook as healthy as I would like to, I don't recycle enough, the list of my "failures" goes on and on. I have lofty goals and think I should reach them all today. But I have been trying hard to take a new approach. I have a mantra, "I am doing the best that I can". I repeat it over and over to remind myself that I am doing the best I can today, right now. Tomorrow may be better or worse but for today's circumstances and moods I am doing my best. I am trying to prioritize what is really important. Who cares if my house is dusted? If you care then don't come over. In 20 years I want my kids to remember that I sat on the floor, dust bunnies and all, and played with them. So I made a list of all the things I do that I should be happy with.
I cook lovingly (sometimes begrudgingly) for my family almost everyday, twice a day. Maybe I don't make everything from scratch but I am health conscious and make a lot from scratch. So what if occasionally I give them spaghetti-o's and hot dogs.
I read to my girls everyday, without fail.
We recycle.
We try to reduce our carbon footprint with our cloth napkins and we even cloth diapered for a long while.
I always try to do what is best for my kiddos whether it be breastfeeding, co-sleeping or birthing them naturally.
We had a good day today and I am going to go to bed and say my prayers and praise myself a little bit. I don't need to be so hard on myself, I need to be happy where I am and work slowly towards important goals. I am wasting time I could be spending with my girls with this negative nelly behavior.
I love my family and wouldn't change them a bit!