Motherhood

Nothing has been as sanctifying to me as Motherhood. Lack of sleep, fun, freedom, confidence, my old body, surety of how I parent, seeing old friends...feeling the burden of being a good disciplinarian and example by how I sleep, eat, treat others, speak, rest, how much TV we watch, what I rely on, how I pray and how much, how I spend my time, and what I value. They are watching everything I do!

When you become a Mom, you are instantly bombarded by all these choices and everyone has an opinion about what you should and should not do. It's exhausting to try to please everyone if you try!
Examples:
Adopt (and from where) or pay $ for fertility treatments if needed
drink caffeine while pregnant or not
Natural labor or drugs
natural birth or c-section
breastfeed or bottle feed
let baby cry it out or let baby tell you what they want
cloth diaper or disposable diaper
pacifiers or thumb suckers
what to put on the registry vs. what not to put on the registry
scheduling vs. baby cues
putting your baby in the nursery at church (and at what age) vs. baby wearing
baby signing or teach them words
keep the sick baby home until they haven't had a fever for 24 hrs. vs.
"everyone gets sick, it'll help their immune system"
Kids eat what we eat for dinner vs. short order chef whatever they want
focus on baby's physical developments and compare vs. focus on their
spiritual development
Cook dinner every night or go out to eat sometimes
pay for dates w/husband or pay for Chick fil A multiple times a week
watch TV or totally cut the cable
do some sewing and crafts or do some cleaning
buy new clothes vs. buy consignment clothes
shop at Trader Joes and Whole Foods or use coupons and go to yucky Kroger!!!
Spanking in love, not anger vs. time out or ignoring the child's behavior
when you're tired
Send the child to preschool vs. home school
potty training vs. letting them tell you when they're ready
Always being on the go vs. staying home
Going to a small church or going to a big church
Spending time with old friends or making new friends
have nice things vs. strict budget
eat healthfully vs. eating whatever is on sale or is easy to make
exercising vs. feeling guilty to leave them or feeling selfish
working or staying home

These are just a few! There are so many people on each side of all these spectrums that will tell you theirs is the right way. I've been on all sides, I think. There's not anything that's absolutely wrong all the time on this list. There are times and seasons for all of them to be right for you. Every person, child, family may do all the different things sometimes. There isn't a formula for parenting to make sure your child becomes who you want them to become. (Hopefully, a respectful, God honoring, self-sufficient, community enhancing type child).
I believe we are responsible to do all we can (by God's grace and empowerment) to parent our kids well.
How do you know if you're doing it right though? Where's the bar on what's good and bad? What are all the requirements? I believe the Bible doesn't explicitly talk about a lot of these issues, but you can get a lot of wisdom principally from it.
If we abide in Him (John 15:15), we will have the fruit of the Spirit that's required to parent well. (Galatians 5:22-23) Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.