Honest, vulnerable admission: I don’t feel like I’m particularly good at anything.

Have any of you felt this way?

Sure, I got great grades through high school and college. I was a good-ish athlete, an OK singer, and I’m not too terrible when playing the piano. I became a decent teacher and on occasion, even a decent human being.  I’m average at saving money, a fair cook, and maybe a little above average on the patience scale . . . maybe . . .  sometimes.

But when it comes down to it, there’s not a single thing I can point to and say, “That’s my thing! I’m good at that!”

I just have lots of little things—some I keep to myself, but they don’t make me “special” per se.  

My young children see it differently. 

My baby gets this big, wide smile when I sing to him. Not the “Oh, there’s my mom” smile. It’s a “Wow, that’s the best thing I’ve ever heard!” smile. I feel like a celebrity around him. 

My voice is exactly what my baby needs to hear. He loves my unremarkable, alto voice just the way it is. 

My children need all of the little things I do for them. They need all of the “unremarkable” talents I have. 

That average voice? It’s enough for a baby to melt into my heart fast asleep. 

Those fair athletic skills? They’re enough to help a child get down the slide the first time or catch a 2-year-old before he makes it to a busy street.

Those good-ish grades? They’re enough to help my boys understand the world around them. 

That patience? It’s enough to clean Spaghettios off the wall a hundred times and watch episodes of Little Einsteins over and over again. 

And so on. 

I’m no star, but the talents and abilities I have, no matter how insignificant they seem to me, are exactly what my children need. 

If you ever doubt your abilities, your talents, or even your worth, just know it is exactly what your children need. You were made to do this. Your children were meant to be yours and to be blessed by those talents you don’t even consider talents (but I promise, they are).

Your greatness is you. 

Being “not particularly good at anything” makes you the perfect mother.