Friend, those things you worry about?  Those things that keep you up at night?  All those lists and plans?  All the things you swear you’re going to be better about tomorrow?

The perfect school, the perfect house, the perfect meal plan, the perfect exercise program, the perfect holiday season, the perfect family, the perfect idea of ‘Mom???’

Let them go.  They don’t care.

Your kids don’t want perfect…they just want YOU.

Your occasional gray hairs, your fresh new crow’s feet, your adult acne, your sunspots, your fluffy tummy, your dimpled thighs, and your cankles…they don’t care.

Your kids don’t want perfect…they just want YOU.

Your overgrown haircut, your awful attempt at bangs, your out of style clothes, the T-shirt you throw on three times a week, your too-tight jeans, your choice of comfortable shoes, and last year’s one-piece momsuit…they don’t care.

Your kids don’t want perfect…they just want YOU.

Your messy counters, your drab kitchen, your overflowing laundry baskets, your lack of closet organization, the out-of-date tile on your bathroom floors, your weed patch in the garden and dead plants on your front porch, and your over-abundance of Tupperware lids…they don’t care.

Your kids don’t want perfect…they just want YOU.

Your crockpot dinner fail, that birthday cake flop, your terrible attempt at ‘healthy’ cookies, your burnt muffins, your dinner ideas on repeat, your dinner from a sack, and your make-your-own-dinner nights called “cereal and toast”…they don’t care.

Your kids don’t want perfect…they just want YOU.

Your pinterest-fail crafts, your do-it-yourself birthday parties, your less-than-picture-perfect holidays, your ‘memorable’ vacations filled with whining and crying, your often grumpy voice, and your lack of ability to be Room Mom…they don’t care.

Your kids don’t want perfect…they just want YOU.

Let go of the stressing and striving.

Let go of distraction and discontentment.

Let go of chasing PERFECTION.

Your kids don’t want perfect…they just want you.

YOU.

To your kids YOU ARE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MOM.

YOU are the Mom of their little childhood.

YOU are the Mom of their whole lives.

YOU.

YOUR dinners on repeat, YOUR holiday traditions, YOUR face on the sideline at soccer games, YOUR hugs, YOUR words of encouragement, YOUR voice reading books or singing in the rocker or praying over them at night, YOUR hands tickling backs at bedtime, YOUR laughter at their funny stories or inside jokes, YOUR snuggles watching movies together on the couch, YOUR praise, YOUR love, YOUR constant presence in their lives…

YOU are part of all their moments.

Your kids don’t want perfect…they just want YOU.

Not the prettier, thinner, more successful, pinterest-worthy, perfect version…they love YOU.

Be YOU.

They just want YOU.