{"id":21063,"date":"2017-03-27T04:27:53","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T04:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wonderoak.com\/?p=21063"},"modified":"2019-01-04T21:19:48","modified_gmt":"2019-01-04T21:19:48","slug":"not-a-perfect-mom-but-an-enough-mom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wonderoak.com\/2017\/03\/27\/not-a-perfect-mom-but-an-enough-mom\/","title":{"rendered":"Not a Perfect Mom, but an Enough Mom."},"content":{"rendered":"

I was going to be the Dr. Oz\u00a0of parenting. I was going to be a guru, and then I realized that I\u00a0would probably have to teach my\u00a0kids to stop acting like wild raccoons\u00a0at the grocery store. I don’t want to be negative but my kids are 10, 8,6, and 3. This is never going to happen for me.<\/p>\n

You are not going to get advice from me on teaching toddlers to read, or getting your kids to stop gagging on their vegetables. I could however offer a step-by-step guide to watching them\u00a0chew on the same vegetable for two hours, until you eventually give up and let them spit it out.<\/p>\n

I am not very perfect at parenting, but I do love my kids enough to cuddle with them while they smell like pee, and I feel like that’s kind of a lot.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’m not perfect, but I am enough…and so are you.<\/p>\n

I enjoy them enough.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes I smell their hair and I kiss their cheeks. I laugh at their jokes and I marvel that I am so blessed. Time stops in moments like that and everything is perfect and worth it.<\/p>\n

Other times I am unsure if I will\u00a0survive the hours of 4:00-8:30 pm, and if\u00a0one can die of\u00a0overexposure\u00a0to bickering.<\/p>\n

One can. I’m\u00a0sure of it.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0enjoy them enough.<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

I am good enough at bedtime.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes we\u00a0read together. We snuggle on the couch and I read them\u00a0Hardy Boys or Anne of Green Gables.<\/p>\n

Other\u00a0times I race through a bedtime song like I’m Alvin the\u00a0chipmunk. I punctuate it with\u00a0a kiss and I run outa there like\u00a0it\u00a0is a hostage situation. (Because it is). They cry out after me that their water is old, that\u00a0their backs itch, and their underwear is twisted.\u00a0This is when I hide\u00a0behind the freezer door shoveling cookie dough ice cream into my mouth, wondering who will give up first…me or them.<\/p>\n

I am good enough at bedtime.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0800\"<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

I am together enough.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

We eat meals together. We love each other, and we laugh together.<\/p>\n

I also lose all school papers even though they come in a convenient shade of neon and my daughter (age 6) \u00a0just asked me that, “if I’m going to come to her school today could I please wear ‘real’ clothes?” Then,\u00a0on the way there (in case she wasn’t clear earlier) she asked me if I remembered my pants.<\/p>\n

I am together enough.<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

I am fun enough.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes I take every single thing too seriously. Like crumbs and clutter and teeth\u00a0brushing.\u00a0I have an out of body experience while I am lecturing them and I wonder if they will remember anything other than me\u00a0being grumpy.<\/p>\n

Other\u00a0times I laugh so hard with my kids that my stomach hurts. \u00a0We\u00a0play games, we go on hikes, and\u00a0we dance in the living room in our pajamas.<\/p>\n

I am fun enough.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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*<\/p>\n

I’m good enough at housekeeping.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes I pick crumbs off of the carpet and throw them under my\u00a0couch. Sometimes the\u00a0downstairs bathroom\u00a0causes me to\u00a0imagine the Health Department coming to my house and posting a D- in\u00a0my front window. I fantasize that they will shut us down and we will be forced to eat at our parents house every single night from now on.<\/p>\n

That sounds wonderful.<\/p>\n

Other times my house is vacuumed and my counters are clean. I’m playing coffeehouse radio on Spotify and there’s a candle burning.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I am good enough at housekeeping.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

I am good enough at self care.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes I cannot recall my last shower. \u00a0I go to the grocery store with a pillow imprint still on my face and a pair of sweats that the 18-year-old cashiers never wanted to know about.<\/p>\n

Other times I wear makeup and I brush my hair…and nothing…not a thousand rabid hyenas can keep me away from a ladies’\u00a0night.<\/p>\n

I’m good enough at self care.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

I am a good enough wife.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes I’m a\u00a0great listener and an epic encourager. We laugh together and dream together and he is truly my favorite person.<\/p>\n

Sometimes he gets all the brunt of my frustration. He gets my snappy responses\u00a0and\u00a0my rolling eyes. Sometimes when he needs a pep talk I say, “Why did\u00a0you do that?”<\/p>\n

Which he loves, for the record.<\/p>\n

I am a good enough wife.<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

I am good enough at nutrition.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes I declare it a pizza night. We use paper plates and I share my love affair with ranch dressing.<\/p>\n

Other times I buy large bags of organic carrots and force feed my children spinach. I plan meals and I worry if they’re eating too much sugar.<\/p>\n

I am good enough at nutrition.<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

I love them enough.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I LOVE MY KIDS. I love them in all their messy, smelly, ridiculous, and hilarious glory.<\/p>\n

I love them and I love them and I love them…<\/p>\n

and that’s what makes everything else I do enough<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It makes everything you do enough too Mama.<\/p>\n

We love them enough.<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

I have had a lot of requests for this hoodie, so here ya go…<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

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