Truth: I'm not the world's greatest mom

I don't know how they do it--The moms whose blog posts I see on Pinterest or on my Facebook news feed who seem to have it altogether.  They post pictures of their kids and the craft, life lesson, or book they worked with today.  Everyone is happy and smiling, and in the end there is a great finished product that they created with their children.  Either those moms are way better than me, or their pictures are only telling half of the story. 

I fall into the comparison trap like so many other moms.  I want to do the best things for my kids, spend time with them, create things for them and with them, raise them in a healthy, happy home that is free of fast food and too much sugar.  Then reality strikes. I try to do a fun craft at my house...Exhibit A

and my 18 month old is crawling on the table trying to get into the paint we are using, my 3 year old has disappeared with a wet paint brush, and my 4 year old is whining to let him do it by himself.  These are pictures you wouldn't see on my post.  You also wouldn't see me yelling at my 3 year old for painting on the wall in her room during the 10 seconds I'm washing her little brother's hands.  (Exhibit B)

There would be no pictures of happy children painting shirts because now it's me trying to finish the craft without wanting to harm myself or my children.  Finally, there would not be pictures of the Jack in the Box we all ate for dinner because the stress the fun craft created deterred me from wanting to make anything for dinner. 

I'm not saying my house is always in mass chaos, but I would love to see some more posts about how crazy life can get, especially with toddlers/preschoolers, so that we don't feel like we are in this alone.  I would love to see pictures of dirty houses with piles of laundry and kids who are pouting  or crying because their show ended on Netflix and you told them it was time to get up and play.  The internet allows us the opportunity to put on a show for the world.  We appear to have a perfect life on our social media when, in actuality, we are posting our next Facebook status in the restroom trying to hide from our kids for 5 minutes of peace.

At the end of the day I need to remember that God doesn't look at the outward appearance, He looks at the heart.  It doesn't matter what I say on Facebook or post on my blog, it's about the motives of my heart.  Am I trying to look like a great mom/wife/teacher to the world, or is that what I truly desire to be?  My prayer is that my husband and kids know that I love them more everyday no matter what goes on behind the scenes/screen.