Five Secrets to Becoming a “Pinterest Mom”

Pinterest.

As confident as we might feel in our abilities to parent, Pinterest is always there to remind us of what we aren’t doing. Am I right?

The crafts, the creative lunches, the sensory activists, the perfectly designed play room–I could go on, but I’ll stop there. I love Pinterest and I’ve found some wonderful recipes and enriching activities there, but it can have the negative side effect of bringing out insecurities sometimes. This is why the term “Pinterest mom” often has a bad rap! It doesn’t have to though! I think many of us would admit we’d like to be able to call ourselves one. Like all things, one must approach Pinterest with balance.

As a new mom, I felt all sorts of frustrations as I pinned hundreds of ideas I thought would make me a good mom but never found the time to actually do them. I have learned a few secrets for navigating Pinterest gracefully and have overcome the beat down. Now, I even feel that I am a “Pinterest mom”–but not because I’m perfect and using news ideas everyday. I am a “Pinterest mom” because I’m enjoying motherhood, enriching our family life with fun and thoughtfully selected ideas from Pinterest. Would you like to be a “Pinterest mom” too?

Here are my 5 secrets to becoming a Pinterest Mom:

1. Pinterest moms don’t do everything. 

It’s easy to get overwhelmed as you scroll through Pinterest. There are so many great ideas! If you click on a pin and read the article, I can guarantee you that the mom who wrote it doesn’t do it all. She doesn’t make every craft and recipe that’s online. She’s picked what worked for her family and gone with it. This was a big realization for me! I thought that in order to be a “Pinterest mom” I needed to do it all. I needed to make fun recipes every day, provide daily creative activities, fill our wall with crafts, keep up an organized chore chart for myself, and blog about all of it too! Guess what–that’s not going to happen, and that’s okay!

2. Find out what’s most important and enjoyable for you and your family. 

I don’t like crafts, so one day I decided that I wasn’t going to pressure myself to do them right now. A coloring book with crayons and stickers is enough for us right now. I do like sensory bins. Fancy toddler meals are worthless to us right now while my daughter is so picky. Printable books are a lot of fun for us. Realize what you like best and focus on that. Don’t pressure yourself to do it all. Otherwise you will be a stressed-out momma!

3. Take time each season to thoughtfully choose what you’d like to do. 

A seasonal approach works best for me, but you might prefer monthly or another schedule. Before each season, I look through all of my many pins and decide which ones I want to do. When I first started this I would pick a lot, but I’m starting to be more focused and selective. Taking time to thoughtfully plan what I want to do with my child helps our activities to be meaningful, not stressful. Even with planning, we must be flexible. A virus might make its way through your family, unexpected travel can come up, or you might realize you planned more than you can realistically accomplish. That’s okay! There is always next month, or even next year! No one has to know!

4. Stay humble and encourage others. 

This one tends to come on its own for me. As soon as I feel overly confident we will go through a rough patch and I’m naturally humbled. HA! Honestly though, it can be tempting to feel a little too proud of your activities. Sometimes I notice that I want to do a Pinterest activity just so I can post about it on social media. That is the wrong motive, sweet friends! Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”  Let us remember that we are not living our lives to be a show of self, but rather a light of God’s glory. We are not better than everyone else for rocking the bento box lunches.

So while you are scrolling for new recipes, look up meals to take to new moms, or ways to encourage mothers of kids with special needs. Let’s find ways to encourage each other in the journey of motherhood rather than boasting, which can be the breeding ground for insecurities.

5. Realize that you are enough of a mom simply by loving your children, doing your best for them, and sharing God’s love with them.

If crafts are not your thing, not to worry. So peanut butter and jelly is what’s for lunch every day–good job, they are fed. If your kids watch PBS in the mornings instead of playing in a homemade sensory bin, it’s okay. These are not the things that make up a good mother. We do our best for our kids, and that looks different for every mother. I might also add that for each mother, our best might change as we go through different seasons. You are enough. Believe it!

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Kristin J

I am a girl who loves to sit with a cup of coffee and daydream. I am most passionate about Jesus, my family, and family ministry. My husband and I live in Oklahoma with our two precious daughters. I spend my days with my girls, discovering and growing alongside them! You can usually find us either in our sunroom, the park, or taking long walks through Target. 🙂

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