Inside: If you are looking for some inspiration and encouragement as a stay at home mom, you are in the right place and these 5 ted talks are for you.

Splash! 

Thick globs of mud pelted my shins. Splosh! Droplets of muddy water assaulted my face. 

“Quit you guys!” I started to yell. But before the words left my mouth I stopped myself. 

We were on a walk in our neighborhood after a very rainy day. Potholes in the road transformed into muddy pools, and my kids’ little bodies couldn’t resist the temptation. I could feel the irritation well up inside. I didn’t want to get wet and muddy. I didn’t want them to get wet and muddy. 

But before I yelled at my boys to get back, I took my own step backwards. After walking a few yards in the other direction, I turned and looked towards my kids. They were giggling. They were stomping. They were splashing and sploshing and loving everything about it. 

The frustration started to die down, and a smile took over in its place.

Being a mama is similar - when we are in the middle of everyday life it can be hard to look at motherhood for what it really is. Sometimes we just need to take a step back, inhale, and gain a different perspective. These 5 Ted Talks will help you do that. 

Enjoy, mama!

Why have we stigmatized and marginalised the stay-at-home mom? | Ben Young 

Ben offers a different take on the role “stay-at-home mom”. If you want to feel empowered by your job title as mama, this Ted Talk will give you a fresh perspective on why what you do every day is important. 

Watching it won’t change how those around you view stay-at-home moms, but it will give you the background to help you feel more confident in your choice to be at home with your kids. 

I have always known I wanted to stay at home with my kids. Even so, every now and then the thought will creep into my head “what am I doing with my time?? Does what I am doing matter?” Yes mama, it does. And this Ted Talk will help prove it to you.

He gets a little analytical at times, but keep watching - it’s worth the 13 minutes.

Responsible parenting: Create memories, not expectations | Austeja Landsbergiene

We all have expectations. How many books will I read to my kids each day? What will I let them eat and not eat? How many play dates should we go on per week? 

But what if instead of doing what is expected, we took a hard look at our own life and did what really mattered to us and the people close to us - and ignored what others thought we should be doing.

How many times do we, as moms, put expectations on our kids based on what we think others are thinking of us? My hand is raised and my fingers are counting (but there aren’t enough of them…). 

Landsbergiene exposes the dangers of this type of parenting, and shines a light on how kindness and generosity towards our kids should be what guides us. Kindness is what creates good memories, she argues. And those memories should be formed now - not when everything is perfect. Now. When everything seems to be going wrong.

Why Moms Are Miserable | Sheryl Ziegler

Sherly tells this story: She was in a hospital room with a kidney stone infection and in a lot of pain. But can you guess what the prevailing emotion was? Relief. She was relaxed. There were no chores to get done; no kids to put to bed. She was being “pampered”. She felt cared for and seen. And she loved it. 

Motherhood can feel lonely. But guess what? You aren’t alone. In this Ted Talk, Sheryl Ziegler addresses this issue that so many moms face. She talks about why we often feel a sense of identity loss, and what we need to start loving being a mom again. The secret? Community. We are lonely. Sheryl will motivate you to build community, and give you tips for how to do that.

“I won’t let busy build walls that keep me apart from other people”

The Perfect Mother Needs To Go | Andrea Jansen

Jansen fights against the idea of the “self-sacrificing” mother, and puts a spotlight on the guilt that moms feel for not “having it all” at the same time. 

“The perfect mother does not exist.”

Dear Overwhelmed Moms, Self-Care Isn’t Selfish | Liz Carlile

Liz Carlise reflects on her own journey to motherhood, and the moment she realized taking care of her son meant also taking care of herself. While she says to practice “selfishness” in the form of self-care, I would differentiate a little and say that often real self-care is unselfish. Because real self-care isn’t about doing what we feel like in the moment. More often than not, real self-care is about doing the hard thingsthat we want to say no to. But because we know those things are good for us, (and those around us) we do them anyway.

Self-care doesn’t have to be a long, drawn out process - it can happen in as little as 5 minutes a day. She gives a couple of practical tips for how to practice short spurts of self-care. 

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Which one of these 5 was your favorite? Let me know, and remember....

I’m rooting for you!