I am interrupting your regularly scheduled 31 Days installment to let you know that today, I’m sharing over at Kindred Grace.  I am talking about a book a friend gave me that changed my view of parenting.  Actually, it changed my view of myself as a parent, because if we are being honest here, and I hope you’ve come to expect that by now, I’ve never felt very good about the kind of mother I am.

I knew I was an introvert, but I couldn’t help feeling guilty when, by the end of the day, I just wanted them to be somewhere other than in my space.  I felt so drained by the day-in and day-out with my own children, even though I loved and enjoyed them, that engaging other relationships was very difficult.  I felt I didn’t have anything left for anyone else. 

Even going to church was challenging.  I had to wrangle children for three hours straight and still reach out to others.  Family events and large group gatherings pushed me to the brink of panic.  I felt overloaded with faces and snippets of conversation and the ever-present concern about where my children were at that very moment.  I felt like motherhood was making me more an introvert than ever, and I felt incredibly guilty about it.

What was going on?  You’ll have to jump over to my friends at Kindred Grace to find out.  I hope you will.  They’ll have a cozy chair waiting just for you.

Don’t worry–I’ll be back with Day 5 of our 31 Days series, From Enemy to Heir, a bit later.  So grab a cup of coffee and go visiting.  I think you’ll be glad for this little interruption.