The "M" in the SMILE acronym... it's like a belly-button

Motivation is like Bellybuttons

For today's post, my one-year-old was willing to bear her belly-button as a visual for us as we discuss the "M" in the S.M.I.L.E. acronym -- the M for Motivation.

What Motivates the Clueless Mama, you may ask... and what in the world could it have to do with belly-buttons?!

Well, I've discovered that my motivation comes from two places: outside forces and inner voices. Navels, as you know, come in two kinds: outies and innies. So, there you go!

An example of an outside force that motivates me is a stinky diaper. Don't worry -- I won't go into too much descriptive detail... Suffice it to say that the scent of poop in the air gets me up out of my chair. (I'm married to a poet so that poopy rhyme is dedicated to him!)

An example of an inner voice that motivates me is the Coach in my head who is constantly rallying me to win. I know I can't win if I choose to sit out of the game... so I get up and go do what needs to be done ***even when I don't feel like it.

"But I don't feel like it" is my inner whiney voice that gets smacked around severely scolded by my inner Coach. I have to chant "I'm doin' it ANYWAY" ten times loudly to make my inner Coach happy... and it works! Try it sometime!

Amidst all of the repetitive tasks of motherhood, the mundane day-to-day ins-n-outs of running a household, this Clueless Mama needs some motivation. Sometimes the outies are more effective than the innies... but either way, it's something that gets me moving when the moving needs to happen.