Pen > Paper > Heart: Letter to the Twenty-Something Mom

Dear twenty-something mom:

I write to you because I am you, the girl who finds herself a young mom, still in her twenties.

I know what it’s like to look in the mirror and still see a high schooler. You’re barely a kid, but somehow you find yourself here, with a kid or kids of your own.

 

If you’re anything like me, you remind yourself all the time that you wanted this. You chose to marry young and mother young, and if you had to go back in time you would still probably do it all over again just the same.

But you also have some moments where you secretly wish you had waited a few more years – moments where the responsibility feels so heavy and your shoulders seem so inadequate to carry the weight of it all.

I know what it’s like to try to figure out “real life stuff” (like learning how to manage your own health, insurance, bills, finances, and big dollar purchases) – all while finding yourself up to your neck in diapers and tantrums and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.

 

I know what it’s like to want to run away and be a carefree twenty-something…the kind you see on chick flicks (the rare occasions when you actually find a chance to watch one). You’re probably glad that you aren’t still in search of that guy with the charming smile and cheesy pickup lines, but you wouldn’t mind sleeping in or living in some ridiculously-priced, artsy apartment in NYC.

I know what it’s like to be the youngest mother everywhere you go and to wonder constantly if people look at you differently for it.

I know what it’s like to be caught between the people your age who are still single or in college – and your mothering peers who are well into their thirties.

The twenties are freaking hard. They are tumultuous. You are trying to find your identity and way in the world – to decide what you think and believe and what you want out of life. And that’s really hard when you are shaping a little soul at the same time.

I know what it’s like to wonder if you have what it takes. To wish you could figure out all this real-life grown-up stuff a little bit better before having to teach and train these children that are already looking to you for guidance.

Dear Twenty-Something Mom: I know you don’t always feel secure. So when you look in the mirror today, tell yourself this: I may be young, but I’m growing up. I may not have all the answers, but I’m learning. I might be in a socially-awkward phase, but this won’t last forever.I am going to make a lot of mistakes, but I’m doing the best that I can. I am not less of a mother because I am a young mother.

Love, A fellow twenty-something mom

Bio: Aprille is a twenty-something mom of one very active little boy and the wife of a combat veteran. She blogs at Beautiful In His Time, her personal chronicle about finding God’s beauty in her often messy life – her marriage, her mothering, and her personal relationship with God. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, Pinterest, and Instagram.