I am an accomplished physician, educator and researcher who, through a lot of hard work, has achieved just about every goal I have ever set for myself, but nothing, and I mean nothing, has humbled me like motherhood. The innate expectation of success that exists within me has quickly been reduced to an oftentimes very defeated mentality of “I’ll be happy with just C average in this motherhood thing”. Not a day goes by that I don’t wish I had a do-over, another take, or a best out of three, and I often find myself spending a lot of time reflecting on what I feel I have done wrong. I admit I do wallow in the mom guilt a bit too much at times, which is definitely something I need to work on.
But one thing I refuse to accept the proverbial “mom fail” in is how I am empowering my children, especially since I have girl/boy twins. Empowering them is an action that takes many forms, is a daily objective, and can be accomplished by seemingly mundane behaviors on my part as their mother. My goal is to make sure they are autonomous individuals and equals, both in their eyes and in the eyes of society. For me, this is possibly the most important role I have as their mother.
To read the entire blog written by Dr. ShannonM. Clark for Houston Moms Blog, click here!
Shannon M. Clark, MD, MMS is a double board certified ObGyn and Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist, and founder of Babies After 35. In her roles as a clinician, educator and researcher at UTMB-Galveston, she focuses on the care of people with maternal and/or fetal complications of pregnancy. Dr. Clark has taken a special interest in pregnancy after the age of 35, which according to age alone, is considered a high-risk pregnancy.
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