I Am A Good Mother

An affirmation.

I need to tell myself this.

Because my instinct is to say, “I’m such a bad Mum (haha) because….”

Today I went to Kindy on roster. So gorgeous. So special. Julian fought his friends off my lap and held my hand tight. He looked up to make sure I was watching him play cars with his friends; when he was talking in front of the class; when he was showing the class how to read the words (from left to right).

He was shining from the inside because I was there.

And yet during the obstacle course they were doing I found myself babbling….”I feel bad….I should have taught him how to hop.”

Last night, my youngest Leo, who is 18 months laughed at me when I told him to stop it. He was putting his hands in his mashed potato then smearing it all over Julian’s seat. Julian was crying with laughter and Leo was chuckling at me.

I said, “Stop it!” Leo did it more, Julian laughed harder.

Delighted he had his big brother’s attention Leo did it more, in fact pieces of mash started to fly towards me. By this time Julian is on the floor, crying with delight.

I picked Leo up put him in time out without a smile and I wasn’t gentle.

He cried and I felt satisfied I had finally been able to discipline this kid.

Julian did a dance to make Leo laugh and I put Julian in time out, in the darker section of the laundry. So he was crying.

I surveyed my Kingdom and felt in control.

Then totally guilty and a bad Mum.

How confusing is it?

I just read an article about over-scheduling our children (they’re getting stressed out), when you under schedule (they miss out), if they have not enough park play time they don’t develop certain skills and I can’t bloody remember how to play hopscotch so I can teach Julian how to hop!

My husband was reading me an article about “types” of parents out there and we jokingly tried to decide if we were open-range, helicopter or any of the plethora of categories us parents have been lumped into.

But…..I don’t need to know any of that. What I need to know is:

I am a good Mother. 

I love my children. 

I will make mistakes. 

They will make mistakes. 

We will learn together what works for our family and what doesn’t. 

I am a good Mother And so are YOU.