Okay, so I'm fairly confident in my mothering abilities. I've gotten over a lot of that new-child anxiety from when I first had Samantha. I can listen to other people's opinions most of the time without becoming unhinged thinking of my own ineffectiveness or conversely-defensive in my position. I'm even fairly happy with my performance most of the time and try not to waste time with guilt. However....I've had a couple of tiny experiences lately that mostly are just funny but also make me wonder if I will ever fully get the hang of this.
Example #1: Samantha "draws" me like 30 pictures a day. Not only is that a drain on our paper supply-but they are mostly scribbles. She can draw a sun and a very scary stick figure but otherwise-scribbles. So what to do with 30 pictures worth of monochromatic scribbles a day? I do the only thing that seems wise, I throw them away every night. Most of the time I do a very good job burying them in the trash, etc. One night I must have been in a hurry because they were at the top of the trash. She found them the next morning and was DEVASTATED. They were her special pictures and she drew them for me! So....what did I do? I lied and told her that her brother must have thrown them in the trash. So not only did I crush her little spirit but I blamed it on my other child. Great.
Example #2: So the next thing I am highly ashamed to admit has not just occurred once but basically happens every day. Tommy spills about 1/4 of his cereal every morning. As I frantically try to clean off his highchair and then sweep every morning (which I really do every morning) he utilizes the time I'm wiping and sweeping to finish his breakfast...off the floor. Could I sweep before I got him out of his highchair, why yes I could. Has the thought occurred to me before I started writing this this? NO-okay!
What I DO do is tell them I love them, I spend a lot of my time reading stories, playing games, and arranging fun things for them to do. I teach them the Gospel. I hug and kiss them a lot. I guess I'm not ready for Mother of the Year Award yet, but I'm sure it's around the corner. In fact, tomorrow I just might have Samantha draw me one.
Example #1: Samantha "draws" me like 30 pictures a day. Not only is that a drain on our paper supply-but they are mostly scribbles. She can draw a sun and a very scary stick figure but otherwise-scribbles. So what to do with 30 pictures worth of monochromatic scribbles a day? I do the only thing that seems wise, I throw them away every night. Most of the time I do a very good job burying them in the trash, etc. One night I must have been in a hurry because they were at the top of the trash. She found them the next morning and was DEVASTATED. They were her special pictures and she drew them for me! So....what did I do? I lied and told her that her brother must have thrown them in the trash. So not only did I crush her little spirit but I blamed it on my other child. Great.
Example #2: So the next thing I am highly ashamed to admit has not just occurred once but basically happens every day. Tommy spills about 1/4 of his cereal every morning. As I frantically try to clean off his highchair and then sweep every morning (which I really do every morning) he utilizes the time I'm wiping and sweeping to finish his breakfast...off the floor. Could I sweep before I got him out of his highchair, why yes I could. Has the thought occurred to me before I started writing this this? NO-okay!
What I DO do is tell them I love them, I spend a lot of my time reading stories, playing games, and arranging fun things for them to do. I teach them the Gospel. I hug and kiss them a lot. I guess I'm not ready for Mother of the Year Award yet, but I'm sure it's around the corner. In fact, tomorrow I just might have Samantha draw me one.
6 comments:
I love the picture of Tommy licking cereal off the floor like a dog...hee hee.
I had playgroup this week at my house and one of the children found a rotten apple core in the toy box. Prize winning moment. Luckily all the moms laughed about it and LeeAnn told me, "Thanks, that makes me feel so much better." I love getting to that stage of parenthood when we can laugh at our failures and quite honestly not care about them and the world doesn't fall apart and then hug our children and realize we are all great parents!
Don't worry about it! As long as you keep doing everything in that last paragraph, you should be set for life! At this point, you'll be getting that award earlier than I will.
I get a little worried when I see chewing on something and I know he must have found it on the floor. After the 'ewwww!' reaction subsides, I figure if he's okay with it, it's not that big of a deal. Then I go get the broom.:)
I loved this picture, Emily. Tommy is so cute, and we know every kid does this. You're just lucky enough for the repeat performances!I laughed really hard when I read your post :)
hee hee! I love the story about the pictures! Tommy is a pretty mean little boy for tossing his big sisters drawings in the trash! haa haa! Dont worry... neither one will probably remember any of it. :) hee hee! Your stories made me laugh. :)
-Krystal
Emily you are a super mom and it shows because you have super kids! I know exactly what you mean with the little artist and not wanting to crush their spirit. Your photos and description of Tommy eating off the floor is priceless! I'm so impressed how clean your floor looks though! Mine is hideously ugly...and in need of a good mopping!!
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