I’m Not The Mom Who Loves To Play, And That’s Okay

I’m not the mom who loves to play.

I’m not the one who enjoys scuttling around on my hands and knees, driving cars around an invisible track or fighting off pretend pirates.

Imaginary play is NOT my strength.

And sometimes, I feel guilty about that.

I want to be the mom crawling around the park, pretending to be a crime-fighting dinosaur named Nora. The mom who spends hours acting out intricate storylines about robots and aliens, running around the house in costumes as we dodge lava pits and trolls. The mom who doesn’t get bored after a couple minutes of playing with Lego people.

I want to be that “uber fun mom” with endless energy and creative passion for free play. I want to give my kids that experience.

But that’s not me.

And that’s okay too.

Because we don’t have to live out anyone else’s type of motherhood.

I may not be great at imaginary play but I try.

And when I fail, we make other adventures.

We read books — LOTS of books. We bake cupcakes and mix brownies and sneak marshmallows from the bag. We dance until we’re dizzy, singing words to songs we don’t even know. We pile high pillow forts and blanket mountains. Our days are made up of board games and books and playgroups and trips to the grocery store to pick up those special pretzel goldfish crackers he likes.

This is the type of fun we have together.

So don’t feel guilty when your motherhood looks different than someone else’s. When it doesn’t look like mine, or yours, or those women on Instagram.

At the end of the day, no matter what your motherhood strengths or weaknesses are, they just want YOU.

Your love is exactly the kind of love they need.

**Post originally appeared on the MommyMannegren Facebook Page.
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