Thursday, June 12, 2008

So Call Me a Terrible Mother

Confessions:

I let my children eat 2-3 cupcakes in a sitting without a second thought.

I routinely feed my children raw eggs in the form of cookie dough.

I read my children's journals.

I pop my children's balloons after they go to bed at night (on the very day they get said balloons).

There you have it. I unapologetically announce to the world that I don't do it all perfectly. Although some might think that these things (and/or other practices in my mothering style) make me a bad mom, I wholeheartedly disagree. These little quirks are the very things that keep me sane and happy, and, by extension, a more pleasant mommy. And isn't a pleasant mommy better than a grouchy one? I think so.

And if you don't let your kids eat three cupcakes in a row ten minutes before dinner, that's okay. I don't judge you :) My strengths are not your strengths and yours are not mine. You might not have a strict policy of buying only skim milk and whole wheat bread like I do, but we can still be friends.

7 comments:

Tracy said...

No, we still can't be friends if you continue to feed my little girl baseball size bites of cookie dough! She's not used to such unhealthy food.

Christie said...

LOL, where on earth did this post come from? I think you're amazing. Cooking for a "vegetarian" is enough to have you post what a wonderful mother you are. :-) And really? 3 cupcakes before dinner, no wonder Liza always wants to go to your house. :-)

laura said...

yeah, we all have our parent pacifiers. you know i'm not a huge fan of the cookie dough, but the cupcake thing could happen to anyone. with the right icing they just go down so easy. it's good to know that we're all just doing the best we can. for what it's worth, i think you're great.

Sally said...

I'll trade you whole milk for making them eat some protein at every single meal, including snacks. They absolutely hate having to come up with something with protein. They roll their little eyes and parrot to each other: "beans, cheese, meat, nuts, or fish". Of course, they want fruit snacks, cereal, crackers, or chips. Oh well! I agree we're all doing the best we can. They probably won't even remember half of these things.

Deb said...

so funny, mendy. i should identify my mothering freebies. you did mention one: i let them eat cookie dough too. i survived childhood, so will they.

Kellie said...

Thanks for this Mendy. You're so completely awesome, friend.

Jeri said...

I wanted to add....

I was trying to make friends with your little girl, and I asked her what her favorite food was.

She said "cookie dough."

I didn't laugh, but told her she has to try it in icecream. =)

You are a dream Mendy!

Quotation of the Month

There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one.

-Jill Churchill