Any of these sound familiar?
I’ve been a mum now for 11 years, and it’s only been over the past few months that I’ve really started to understand what it means to be a ‘good’ mum. Good parenting has nothing to do with how often your kids say “please” and “thank you” and nothing to do with how many A’s they get on their report cards. It has nothing to do with how quickly they fall asleep at night, and it has nothing to do with how clean their clothes are at the end of each day.
Here’s what it really means to be a ‘good’ mum:
1. You worry about them.
2. You feel guilty if they eat too much junk food.
3. You see potential danger before they do, and take steps to prevent it.
4. You let them keep their bedrooms messy even though it drives you crazy.
5. You try and make sure they are comfortable in their ice-cream-covered clothing.
6. You have some old, ratty bandaids in your handbag, for just in case.
7. You feel bad if they eat too much sugar in one day.
8. You try and think of interesting ways to get them to eat carrots.
9. You have to stop yourself from becoming verbally abusive towards anyone who upsets them.
10. You feel guilty when you get angry with them.
11. You don’t yell every day.
12. Sometimes when they have done something naughty, you laugh instead of punish.
13. You feel relieved when school holidays are over, and then you feel bad about that.
14. You eat one of their school snacks out of the pantry, and that makes you long for them to arrive home.
15. You make hotdogs for dinner, even though you don't like hotdogs but know that they do.
16. You buy them a puppy, even though you aren't really a dog person.
17. You are worried about the electricity bill but you turn the heater on in their room while you leave the one in yours off.
18. You offer them the last biscuit.
19. You clean up their messes sometimes because they are so focused on whatever activity they are involved in.
20. You think about them when they are away from you.
21. You feel defensive if anyone, even close family, says anything negative about them.
22. You let your oldest son get expensive haircuts because he is really fussy about his hair.
23. You charge their iPods when they forget to.
24. You kiss them and tuck them in every time you get up at night.
25. You try and keep your arguments with their dad to a minimum and as quiet as possible so they don't hear them often, if at all.
