It's not that I'm

teaching,

encouraging,

or promoting

mediocrity as a way of life.

My late father would never approve of such.

But I am raising humans who

recognize and understand that,

sometimes,

'doing your best'

looks a lot like nothing admirable.

All the while, remaining anything but.

Of course, yeah, more often than not, hard work is going to look like hard work, and you and others will see the sweat and fruits of the labor as proof of such output.

BUT, this whole notion that any single person's value is directly proportional to their productivity rate is

idiotic thinking,

inaccurate,

wildly untrue,

and not a belief I'm willing to raise my children with.

I tell my children all the time

"Mommy's doing the best I can,"

and while sometimes my best looks like

dirty dishes still in the sink,

a cluttered house,

laundry undone,

unruly kids,

and me ignoring all of it to have a one-on-one therapy sesh with my computer keyboard,

that doesn't mean I'm not.

Because although there are times when my best looks like,

happy and clean kids,

sitting at the dining table,

quietly doing homework,

while I simultaneously cook a delicious meal from scratch and clean and declutter my home,

often it looks nothing like that.

And in those moments, I'm still doing my best.

And I'm reminded that whether my kids are

listening or tuning out,

cleaning or making a mess,

reading a book or refusing to,

actively playing or sitting idly,

doing work or hardly working,

THEY ARE DOING THEIR BEST.

It's not that I'm

teaching,

encouraging,

or promoting

mediocrity as a way of life.

I'm just saying that not a single one of us, child or adult,

needs to break our back,

spirit,

confidence,

or

the bank,

in the name of greatness.

We're all great, regardless.

That's what I'm teaching.