Saturday, January 09, 2010

Mom Secrets

I have a newsflash for all of you

I am not

and

never will be

nor do I want to be

Super Mom

Seriously, I see friends, co-workers, strangers running around trying to be it all. We have to be a cook, a maid, a chauffeur, a nurse, a personal shopper and on and on. Some of us work outside the home, some of us are stay at home - some do a whole lot of both.

But I think I can say with a level of certainty that we all have some things in common no matter our circumstances and choices - we are good, well intentioned people with expectations of ourselves that are WAY TOO HIGH.

I can't jump over the bar anymore - can you?

So here I profess

- right now my youngest is having a bath for the first time in about five days (sigh)
- there are baskets of laundry waiting to be folded all over my house
- I cannot (honestly - I am not joking here) remember the last time I washed my kitchen floor
- my youngest broke his glasses about 2 months ago, I haven't gotten them fixed yet, they are rolling around in my van somewhere while he wears his back up (old prescription) pair about the 3 times a week I remember to tell him to put them on.

There - I have proclaimed some of my "mom secrets". It feels liberating. I am setting the bar low for myself. Not everything is going to get done. I am human. Not everything CAN get done. And you know what???? I am surprisingly okay with it all.

My husband on the other hand, might not be so okay with it all.

How about you - where's your bar set?

4 comments:

  1. Oh good! That makes me feel so much better! I'm lucky if I remember to bathe my kids twice a week these days (not that I "bathe" them anymore, just make them go is more like it). And my kitchen floor is starting to feel like a theatre floor. Which is pretty gross considering I look after other people's kids. My carpets upstairs are so covered in lint that I can't remember the original colour of them. My boys' bathroom sink and mirror is covered in toothpaste spit, and the toilet is growing things. Now that's gross. I'm ashamed, but liberated! And even though I promised myself that my children would learn to swim no matter what, I haven't signed them up for swimming lessons since last spring's session because I can't be bothered with the rush of getting them there, and listening to the whining when they don't want to go. I am not supermom!

    ReplyDelete
  2. allie9:33 PM

    LOL I use dry skin at my excuse for not bathing my kids more often. It does seem to dry out their skin but really I just hate the fight to get them OUT of the water at the end. So twice a week is a good week here ;)
    I have laundry folded in all my baskets, unfolded in the dryer and wet in the washer. I'm still not sure if I'll put away waht's in the baskets or just buy another basket :) It's up in the air.
    We don't even bother putting away the hats and mittens, they live in a pile in the front hall. I gave up on containers or sorters for them. No one uses them. So they are a pile. Dig through. Find yours or you will wear purple and pink no matter what your age or gender, and you will not say a word about it.
    Also...my kids socks tend to get reused a lot because I have literally a basket FULL of mismatched ones, which we wear as our in house socks, and then they have a few pairs each they wear when we go out - but then save til the next time, lol.
    Yep. Not aiming high here, either. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yay! Isn't it liberating???? Here's to setting the bar LOWER for ourselves. Aim LOW ladies then you are bound to meet all your goals and expectations :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10:37 AM

    If your husband is not ok with it all, maybe that's an indication he needs to roll up his sleeves, realize you are drowning, and help out more. On the other hand, I've realized men can not read minds, so if you need help, ask him in a nice way (not a nagging, screaming, crazed way -- that will just get him pre-agitated).

    Us women generally don't ask for help when we need it.

    ReplyDelete