Today is St. Patrick's Day and I didn't dress my daughter in a stitch of green.  I even watched #Foxnews this morning and saw every anchor in some shade of green and still totally flaked on the notion of dressing Diva in the official color of the day.  BUT she is rockin' a killer leopard print hair bow thanks to a gift of hand-me-down bows from our friends this week.    

I've never been that mom to think ahead and have my kids dressed in monogrammed shirts for every holiday and special occasion of the year.  {Not that that is bad.  I think that is awesome and looks incredibly adorable.  I love the matchy-matchy family pics everyone posts on holidays.  MOST of my very best friends are good at this.  It's one of their things like cooking is for me.  They monogram.  They decorate.  They plan incredible birthday parties.)  It's just not me.  I do make certain to have Christmas and Easter attire each year and my kids are almost certain to stain both with whatever delicious food we eat that day.  

I usually don't care much about these things but this morning when I realized {in the car-rider drop off line} that my little Diva wasn't wearing green I had a minor slit-second panic attack.  I had visions of her being pinched all day and the only child in class NOT wearing a monogramed shirt emblazoned with a four leaf clover and the words "Irish You A Happy St. Patrick's Day!"  But my sweet baby girl looked around and said, "It's okay Mommy.  There are other kids not wearing green.  It's like when you forgot to dress me up for Go Texan Day."  {Reminder, mom fail #13, 656}

Gah, the pressure!  I thought as I drove home of all the pressure we put on ourselves to keep up with the women around us…to keep up with Pinterest.  Did y'all catch the wording back there??? WE put the pressure on OURSELVES.  Other women aren't holding our heads down to a chopping block and telling us we must keep up.  We make ourselves feel that way.  I mean seriously, I feel the need to plan an epic first birthday party for our last and final baby and I have an internal battle about it.  Do I go all out and follow the Pinterest trend or do I rebel entirely and just drop an old school bomb on y'all.  I'm talking crepe paper, a cake from the local grocery store, balloons, hotdogs and chips and dips?  What???  I mean he is ONE.  He doesn't care.  My second born slept through his entire first birthday cake and presents.  {you never wake a sleeping baby}

And the pressure doesn't end there.  Let's be REAL:

• The pressure to look like I didn't give birth to my THIRD child three months after I gave birth to my third child.  {Ummm…he is nearly nine months old and I still can't wear my old miss me jeans and don't look like my old self} but GUESS WHAT…IT IS OKAY!  I still look hot.  Yep, I said it.  I've always been a little too confident in my looks and the hot is still in here…it's just a little squishy right now.  {BTW, It's okay to say you think you are pretty by the way.  I hope that I teach my daughter to see the beauty in herself on the inside and the outside and not to belittle her own looks or her intelligence.}  
• The pressure to have the perfect house and perfect wardrobe.  Never gonna happen here.  My house is far far far from perfect.  BUT IT IS OKAY!  I have been here for over a year and a half and I still have unpacked boxes in my undecorated "office".  It is full of everything I am not sure what to do with and everything I need to throw away or donate. I don't have a pottery barn or restoration hardware house and it doesn't matter.  I have a house full of handprints, giggles and lots and lots of races around the downstairs.  There will always be loads of laundry to fold, floors to clean and dishes to wash.  It is just the way we roll around here.  I will do a mad dash to clean it all up before I host a party, but it's still there lurking behind the closed doors.  I am not the best housekeeper.  It is okay. 
  I shop at budget stores.  Always have.  Half my closet was bought at Ross.  I buy all my workout clothes at TJ MAXX and I rarely have a matching top and bottom.  I'll wear Under Armor on top and Danskin on bottom.  I don't care as long as the pants make my booty look nice and the top doesn't reveal my squishy places.  I wash my hair every 3-4 days and my new best friend is dry shampoo.  I do love my makeup and try to wear it as often as possible because I just feel pretty with it done but I have no problem running errands au natural.  
• The pressure to forsake all medicine and go completely holistic and organic in all areas of life.  NOW listen ladies, I totally believe in holistic and organic living.  I do TRY to buy as much organic food as possible.  It just makes sense that God did not intend for us to fill our bodies with additives, preservatives and toxins, but if I have to send my kid to school with a lunchable every once in a while… it is OKAY.  
• And birthing stories…oh lawd.  I don't care how you got your baby out of you.  Midwife at home.  Hospital with an epidural.  Scheduled c-section.   You carried a baby and grew a human for 40 weeks!  You recovered from whatever means of childbirth you endured.  That makes you eligible for your superwoman badge in my book.  Welcome to the club.

All this to say, the pressure is heavy but the only one we should strive to be like in this life is Jesus.  In life group yesterday we discussed James 1:19 where James instructs believers to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.  BE LIKE CHRIST first, show love to your spouse and kids and cut yourself some slack in the other areas that don't matter as much.