Just a Mother

By Lindsay Sledge

April is National Poetry Month. Thank you for supporting women and the arts. ❤️

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I am just a mother
So please don’t try to persuade me that
My simple life is significant
Everyone knows
I laze about my little house
You cannot convince me that
My family cherishes my steady presence
The truth is
My children do not love me
I refuse to presume
There is value in the tedium of my tasks
I assure you
The many moments I lose my patience
Overshadow
The big belly laughs around the dinner table
I have learned that
It’s possible to sacrifice too much for your kids
You can’t tell me
There is a beauty to basic rhythms
I am confident that
My children will resent my choices
I no longer believe that
Motherhood makes a difference

(Now reverse it and read it again)

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Guest poem by Lindsay Sledge. Lindsay lives in Music City with her college sweetheart and three charismatic kids. She spends half of her week in car lanes, disappearing into magical worlds of fantasy fiction and drafting essays about everyday life. Her essays have appeared in Coffee + Crumbs, Her View From Home, and Kindred Magazine, along with others. You can read more of her writing on Substack or Instagram.

Photo by Ashlee Gadd.

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Our new book is available now!

We wrote another book! You’re in Good Company: The Gift of Friendship, Motherhood, and Showing Up mixes personal stories, reflections, and helpful ideas, all based on the belief that hospitality doesn’t need to be perfect to matter. In this heartfelt collection of essays and recipes, we’re inviting you to rediscover—and even redefine—what hospitality can look like in a busy, lonely world. Hint: it looks less like glamorous dinner parties, and more like ordinary grace around the backyard fire pit.