In case you had the wrong idea about me…
I feel like I need to clear up something. An old friend of mine and I were texting the other day. She asked what I was up to, and I said “not really anything…just sort of, you know…waiting till kids’ bedtime”. Here’s what followed:
Because here’s the thing. I’ve had some people tell me that my life looks “perfect” from the blog, that I always do such amazing things with my kids all the time, that they could never do what I do even with less kids. Or my favorite, that I seem so organized and together.
So I’m here to set the record straight. There are approximately 56 hours in a week which I could take my kids out adventuring (8 hours a day, 7 days a week). Each blog entry covers about 2-3 hours of our week. That means that the remaining 53 hours are spent doing things like:
Playing naked karate in front of a soccer game.
Going to the doctor’s office because if someone gets sick, that means that someone else will get sick two days later. And someone else two days after that. And the someone else two days after that. And maybe I’m lucky to not get sick, but chances are I will and we’ll have another day at home doing exactly nothing.
Building “A Big Dog Bone” out of wood, paper cups, and garbage they found in our tiny back yard. Which is dangerous.
Eating pizza on the couch. In nothing but a diaper.
Piling up all the crap from my four kids’ shared bedroom, into one bed.
I swear a lot. My kids eat fast food. Our neighbors can hear yelling if our windows are open, I’m sure. We watch too much TV. I make mistakes with my kids, my husband, my family, and my friends on a regular basis.
The definition of perfect (as described by dictionary.com) follows:
I happen to be one of your Mom’s biggest fans, and I know how proud she is of you for many reasons.
What a great, honest, and refreshing read and kudos to you for posting it.
It’s too bad that we still harbor under the delusion of the concept of a “perfect” mom and that we use such arbitrary means to measure such an accomplishment such as organic food intake and making crafts from bamboo. I hate the mom wars with all of the subtle (and not so) messages of “I love my child more” because I……….(fill in the smug blank).
As a preschool teacher I can tell you that no one has it totally right or perfect (and I didn’t either), and that kids can survive and flourish in all kinds of family cultures. The only thing they can’t survive is being unwanted and unloved, and that has nothing to do with making your own laundry soap from scratch or gobbling your placenta like Pringles.
Thanks for your olive branch to all the other moms out there who are knee deep in the glorious mess of child raising. I hope they take it, because we all need all the help and support we can get.
<3
Wow, Michele! Thanks so much for joining in…it’s such a journey of letting go of all the (sometimes implied) judgment, envy, self-doubt and competition. I really do see a trend towards acceptance and support, which your comment just echoes. Take care, and thanks again for all the kind words!! -Amber