Mom Worry is a Real Thing

To all the worried Mommas out there. You are not alone. And yes, this is a real thing. 

Do you worry? I think that we can all admit we do. I’ve always had a little bit of worry and anxiety within me, but ever since becoming a mother it’s gotten 100x worse.

There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not worrying about something with my husband, job, or son.

Last night I watched my son, Greyson, go up and hit the “test” button on one of our extra fire alarms and it started alerting us that there was carbon monoxide in the house. I officially did not sleep. Even though I straight up saw him hit the button.

There are a lot of things that you get warned about going into your pregnancy, especially delivery. And there are a handful of things that no one ever warns you about like… bed sweats for months after labor (gross), becoming a total worry wart, and a lot of other things I can’t even start to talk about and will save for another post!

I got warned about things like I would’t want to go on vacation for awhile without G or that I wouldn’t want to go back to work full-time. Well, these types of things I never really thought would affect me and they didn’t (besides the mom guilt of that, of course). But what I wasn’t warned about was the everyday struggle of worrying. Or maybe they did and I just probably thought they were a little coo-coo.

{Photo credit: Lissadee Photography}

Not a lot of people know or would guess this about me. But the truth is, my husband has never left home without giving me a kiss goodbye or has never went to bed without giving me a kiss goodnight because he knows how I think- live each day as if it were your last. 

From the time I found out I was pregnant, I started to worry about the large glasses of wine I had within the entire months of not knowing. I worried everyday for nine months whether or not my baby was still in there. I tried to come up with many reasons to go to the hospital to get an ultra sound. Oh, and that’s another thing no one told me: you don’t get to see a picture of your baby on every checkup. What the?! 

Just like mom guilt, mom worry is a real thing, and it’s a total different worry than one would ever know.

Questions like “what if?” and “should I have?” are constant thoughts that go through my mind. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not worried that G will get germs and get sick. I’m not worried that he’ll scratch his knee and get dumped. No, that worry is one of those acceptable sins that we don’t think much of because we all do it. But this worry I’m talking about is much deeper and scarier. 

I worry he won’t be kind to other kids. 
I worry he won’t have a compassionate soul. 
I worry whether or not to take Greyson to the doctor over a simple rash or cold. Is it simple?
I worry when I do take him in and it wasn’t a big deal, how much the doctor bill is going to be.
I worry that someone’s going to run a red light when I drive through an intersection with my baby.
I worry that I’m not spending enough time with my son being a working mom.
I worry that someone’s going to break his heart.
I worry he doesn’t have any friends at daycare.
I worry that he won’t have the same faith as me.
I worry that he won’t have the same work ethic as his dad and me.
I worry that he’s going to be in a dangerous sport like his daddy and get hurt.
I worry that I don’t volunteer enough at his daycare becuase I’m always working.
I worry that when I do volunteer that I shouldn’t being he’s glued to my arms the entire time and I’m the worst volunteer ever.

But at the end of everyday, I love that I’m not alone. I am surrounded my hundreds of amazing mothers like you and we’re all doing what we know best- working our butts off and doing what we know how to do best for our family.

Worrying is silly but I think it’s the nature of being a mother. My godmother once told me that there’s not a day that goes by that she isn’t worrying about her kids, nieces and nephews. I used to think that she might need some medication for that, but now that I’m a mom, I know that just means how much she loves us.

To me, mom worry means that God is putting a little extra love in us. It’s his way of telling us that he trusts us and he’s going to give us the awful emotion of worry so that we do something. We love harder, we’re kinder, and we give our kids and hubby extra smooches and longer hugs. 

And you know what else I’ve realized? When we go through hard things, we come out stronger than ever. All of those things we’re worried about make us more compassionate souls who make a bigger difference in the world. 

Is anyone else with me?! What do you worry about, momma?