Thursday, March 3, 2011

Supermom! -- a confession

I always have to giggle. I can't tell you how many times I've been called "Supermom", or asked "how on earth do you do it all?"

My response? I don't.

Being a mom is such a competitive sport. We compare ourselves to our friends to see if we are "as good" as everyone else. But being a mom is also complicated. We all have our strengths and we all have our weaknesses. But you have to admit, we often tout our accomplishments, but how often do we publicize our weaknesses?

When you think a mom is just so darn perfect, often times, she's not!

I'll admit, I'm great with money, and I'm pretty killer in the kitchen. But I HATE to clean. And with 3 kids in the house, it is a rarity that the living room is clean 10 minutes after I've picked up. My kitchen? Never fully clean for very long.
I have a pile of paperwork stashed in the dining room that gets shoved into a box in the basement whenever we have company. And we live out of a clean clothes hamper for a week until either my husband or I get entirely too sick of it and have a mass folding session while watching Battlestar Galactica when the kids have gone to bed. Only to start THAT never-ending cycle all over again.

I even admitted to a mom yesterday that my kids don't get bathed as much as I'd like - and she didn't look at me like an alien! Now THAT was refreshing. (I mean, it is winter, how dirty can they get? And do you KNOW what a production getting 3 kids bathed is?) Now, don't get me wrong, my kids aren't disgusting, we are excellent about hand washing, cleaning up before and after meals, and teeth brushing, but full on baths are not a daily occurrence around these parts.

We all just have different priorities.I homeschool, focus on kitchen skills and enjoy crafts. We've cut down on extra-curriculars to the things we enjoy the most. With all the things I DO, do, I don't have time to be a Soccer coach, keep an immaculate house, take my kids to every lesson on the planet, or volunteer at any of the number of things I probably could. I have my priorities and everything else is just noise.

And you know what? That's just fine with me. My time with my kids is all I need. :)

~~** D **~~