the mommy unwar

I'm sure you've all heard of "mommy wars". It seems to be a popular buzzword among parenting blogs or mommy blogs or whatever.
If not, it's basically the idea that you can feel judgment from other mothers that disagree with the choices you've made in childrearing, homekeeping, careerwise, ad nauseum. (People actually get pretty neurotic over the choice of fake vs real Christmas trees. Christmas. Trees. Let alone how you feed or diaper or if you vaccinate or circumcise your children. The world is insane. Anyway...)
When it comes to a mommy war, I concede defeat already. I humbly bow to your superior discipline skills, organizing skills, nutritious meals, exercise program, clean house, devotion schedule, sleep schedule, cleaning schedule, budget, patience, skill at doing fun things with your kids, chore charts that you adhere to religiously, meal plans that you work like a boss, etc.
I tend to live in a bubble and probably I'm a little lazy (or I AM lazy) so my world tends to feel small and for the most part simple if I can just remember to take it one day at a time instead of thinking of cramming years of learning and training and teaching my children all in a day. 
I know I keep repeating myself but parenting and, for us ladies in particular, mothering is a tough job. We're hard on ourselves because we want to do the best job possible. I get it, and I understand it. I also understand that none of us will ever be a PERFECT mother and be the one that "gets it all done". We just won't.
Sometimes I simplify my job as a mom down to two things: 1) Teach my children to love and honor God and 2) enjoy them.
That's really all I want - to look back and know that I relished the time they were here and I spent it teaching them about the Lord.
In the end, no one is likely to remember or care if you breastfed or bottle fed your kids or when they slept through the night or if you used cloth diapers, made all your child's baby food, made their birthday cakes and holiday outfits, except maybe you.
The point is I just want my family to have mercy with me when it comes down to the choices I made in raising them. They have seen me at my best and most certainly my worst - the times when I was exhausted, overwhelmed, sick, selfish, impatient, ungracious, thoughtless. And I just want them to know that through it all, I loved them dearly. That every minute of sleep I lost, or time to myself I lost or whatever else I thought I lost, was the smallest sacrifice I could make on their part and I would do it again. And again. And again. And again. Because sometimes I think I don't want my life anymore but I know it's the best thing that's ever happened to me.
As we head into the new year, I want to share this quote that I just discovered and immediately loved:
"I do believe in simplicity. It is astonishing as well as sad, how many trivial affairs even the wisest thinks he must attend to in a day:...so simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real."
Henry David Thoreau
You've got this, momma. Just let patience have her perfect work.
Best to you all in 2016.