Perfectionism

So,  I have this huge long list of stuff I need to do
and I'm so overwhelmed by it all that I can't seem to do anything.
Now, I know you'll probably say,
Oh you just had a baby, don't worry about it...
but the thing is, the more I don't do, the more it bothers me, you know?
And it's stuff I just want to do and get done and move on, so I'll feel better.

like thank you notes & Josh's birth announcement.
I didn't even make one for Jack because I couldn't decide
 on a picture and design. It was too overwhelming.

photo credit
and then I was talking to my dear sweet Aunt Cami in Texas
 who is coming to visit and help out next week
and she told me a little secret.

I doesn't have to be perfect.

And what she didn't say because she's sweet is...
no one else really cares.
about the picture, I mean
what?!?

photo credit

I didn't even realize it, but I have letting my
perfectionism paralyze me and rob me of my joy.
My counselor points this out to me pretty frequently.
"If it's not perfect it's *$%*^."
All or nothing. No middle ground.

And it robs me of the little daily joys all around me.
And what's worse, and super scary to me, is that my perfectionism,
 left untamed, will actually hurt my family.
My husband and my boys.
If I'm never good enough for me,
then they won't be either,
and that sucks.

photo credit

That's not the wife and mother I want to be.
That's not the home I want to make.
That's not the men I want to raise.

Thank you, Aunt Cami for a little reality check.
I'm going to finish that birth announcement now...