Parents, you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.

Or just as likely, we’ve got questions and you’ve got answers.

Challenge: It's Good To Be Bad

Confession: I am NOT a Super-Mom

128
Vote up!
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email this article

d5d11baeaa3535f201f033670c613dcbe7dbf25a.jpg

Sometimes when I don't know someone and I see them wearing makeup, I kind of assume that they are also good at everything else, like cooking and having a clean bathroom for example. Their children probably ask to take out the trash and beg them to make grilled asparagus for dinner. So, incase you've seen me wear makeup, I want to set the record straight.

I am not a Super-Mom, and these are my confessions:

***

I love screens and I love screen time. Possibly more than my children love them. If Netflix or Amazon Prime were people I would want to marry them. I hide this love, just like I hide my love for those tacos from Taco Bell with the cheesy Dorito flavored shells on them, or how I binge watched Sister Wives that one time. There's some things you just don't share.

I usually engage in conversations about the impending doom caused by iPads with a solemn head shake, but my inside voice says, Girl, you're good, Wild Kratts is educational.

As long as my kids got outside for a while I welcome screen time like I would welcome any babysitter offering their services for free.

I hardly ever know what I'm doing. If my life were a tag line it would be, "wingin' it". When my kid acts up in public, I usually say something very parental like, "If you keep doing that...there will be...disciplinary...measures...that...take...place...". That is because there is a 100% chance that I have no idea what I'm going to do, but I find that using big words confuses the opposition...I mean kids.

Since Tuesday we've been trying pushups and crunches as consequences. So far I don't notice a dent in the bickering problem, but all of them are becoming very toned.

I am queen of the overreaction, especially to "danger". Recently we traveled by train as a family. I have very little train experience and when we were attempting to get on I thought the doors were closing before we were all inside. I panicked and my eight year old claims that I lifted him off the ground with two fingers (whereby he "lost half of his nipple due to my long nails") and "threw" him and his sister on to the train. I do not remember this, but I do remember yelling explicits, which I'm sure was delightful for spectators.

*I have examined the nipple in question and everything appears intact. Also we made it onto the train, so...go me?

I am not calm, or cool, or collected. I read some awesome parenting advice about being relaxed and not letting the kids push my buttons.

This is not going very well for me.

It turns out that my genetic makeup is made almost entirely of buttons; also I am hardly ever relaxed, unless we're talking about when I clean the shower (never). I'm hoping that hiding in the shoe closet to pull myself together and apologizing a lot are also good parenting strategies.

I am completely dependent on coffee and I am not ashamed. Sometimes people ask me to do healthy diets or workout challenges with them. I say yes because I like doing things with friends and I get tricked into thinking it will be fun. Three hours in is when I realize the graveness of my mistake and twelve hours in is when I confess that I ate a whole entire Blizzard on accident.

I have other friends who tell me how they are going to wean themselves off of caffeine.

I AM ON TO THEM AND I WOULD NEVER AGREE TO SUCH A THING.

I am not hardcore. I'm not hardcore about homework or buying organic or extra curricular activities or making breakfast that doesn't come out of a box. I do all of those things sometimes, but I also welcome movie night, frozen pizza, and letting my kids be "bored".

There is a constant pressure to be everything as a parent and I am simply not, I'm NOT everything. I'm not super, I'm not perfect, I'm just me. I'm just a mom doing her best.

Last night my kids started teasing me about the train debacle. It was hysterical. They mimicked my wide eyes and acted out my superhuman strength as I "threw" them in the doorway. I laughed so hard I cried and so did they.

I'm never going to be THE "ideal mom", but I do think that I'm their ideal mom (warts and all).

Honestly, at the end of the day and at the end of my time raising these precious souls, I hope they don't think of me as a super-mom or someone who always had it all together. I hope they remember that I loved them and that we laughed. I hope they remember that I made lots of mistakes, but I told them I was sorry. I hope I teach them that they don't have to be everything either, and that they're enough just how they are.

I'm not going to give them the perfect childhood, but I am going to give them every single drop of love that I have in my heart. I'm not a super mom, but I am a mom who adores my kids with every piece of my soul...

...and I'm okay with that.

Related video:

This post comes from the TODAY Parenting Team community, where all members are welcome to post and discuss parenting solutions. Learn more and join us! Because we're all in this together.