Don't eat the burnt toast or have the cold shower...

So I've been really thinking hard today about where I find inspiration from.  Inspiration comes to us from so many places, sometimes it's the slam you in the face, light bulb sort of inspiration, other times its the seep into every fibre of your being before you know it.  Today I've been thinking about the latter of the two, in the form of my beautiful daughter.  Now dont get me wrong, I find inspiration in all of my children, but amazingly in very different ways (save the boys for another blog day or three, there's lots to say about my boys!!!!).  However I do find having a daughter has enlightened me in ways that having boys didn't.

So here are a few of my favourite pictures, I'm going to revel in a proud mummy moment.......


Aaliyah at 2 hours old



My Cheeky Girl





So this Sunday at church during one of our brilliant lessons (we're blessed with such talented teachers) we were talking about priorities, and time and choosing things which are either good, better or best. Fantastic lesson! But it was a comment at the end of the lesson that really hit hard....Someone mentioned the title of Teri Hatchers book 'Try not to eat the burnt toast' about how as wives and mothers we often take 'whats left' ie the burnt bit of toast.  I laughed becuase while I would never eat burnt toast (it goes in the bin in our house) I am guilty of the serve myself last, take whats left mentality. 

As a mum, I make sure everyone else has enough, then I sort myself out.....but.....what am I teaching my daughter?!?! I dont want my daughter to have to eat burnt toast, or only get to have one roast potato becuase someone else wanted extra, or to get the cold shower becuase she made sure everyone else was sorted first. But this is what I'm teaching her, like it or not, I AM her role model. Luckily I'm not the only one, she will have many in her life, some I'll approve of and I'm sure plenty that I wont!  But I'm the first one and hopefully one of the more important :-)  So today I'm looking at my daughter for inspiration. Inspiration on how to be a strong woman who sometimes puts herself first, who sometimes does what she wants first, who doesn't make every sacrifice.A woman who can look into the mirror and love herself, a woman who is healthy but not obsessed with weight. I'm going to be that woman, becuase thats what I would want for my daughter, and how can she have that if I dont give her an example to look to.