Before you judge the title, let me explain. I'm not describing myself as a super mommy. Trust me, if you could have overheard some conversations I've had with Chris over the past couple days, you'll be well assured that I do NOT think I'm a super mommy. At times, I don't even consider myself a competent mommy! Honestly, I think every mom is a super mommy. Perhaps "mom" is just an abbreviation of the full, proper word, which is "Super Mommy".
I'm writing this particular entry because I've had a series of days where I flat out don't feel like I'm doing a single thing right. I've spent lots of time muddling over why I feel this way. Then I remembered a blog that my friend, Stori, posted and I've seen other moms post. It's called "Don't Carpe Diem". Not only was it hilarious, but it was very, very honest.
In reading this, I decided that I would spill my honesty. One of the toughest things about being a mom is hearing how other moms do things (whether it's right or wrong is completely irrelevant). But, just hearing these things make me second guess everything from naps to eating to the clothes I put on Walt! Deep down I want to be the quintessential Super Mommy who cooks meals five nights a week, does laundry the same day every week, creates her own "lessons" for her kids, bakes homemade tarts on a Wed. just cause, reads thought-provoking books, and so on. The truth is, I don't do any of those things. This is for all you super mommies who strive to do the best things, but sometimes we just don't quite make it. It's the intent that counts, right?
1. I feed my kid a lot of frozen food. Let's be extremely honest. I feed Walt a helluva lot of chicken nuggets. It's the ONE thing that he's guaranteed to eat. I wish I could even say I buy the organic, free-range, frozen chicken. I don't. It's Target brand and dinosaur shaped. Come to think of it, Walt doesn't really eat anything that's fresh. I used to send tons of fresh fruit and lunch meat to school, but then one of his teachers pulled me aside and said, "Does Walt eat this stuff at home? He's refusing his entire lunch here." Great. Rather than have him starve and make everyone mad, I send what he'll eat: chicken nuggets and American cheese.
2. I work out once a month. If that. This is a really hard confession. Pre-Walt I was in the gym or outside running at least four days a week. My once-a-month workout is a good one if it lasts 30 minutes. I'm beginning to wonder if I should count walking up the stairs at work (which would mean I'd actually have to start using the stairs) or walking the .25 mi trek from the parking lot to school twice a week. Yes, I also know we bought that big fancy jogging stroller. I've taken it for one spin and ran four minutes out of a 30 min walk. FAIL.
3. I've never cooked for Walt. That is, if you don't count the grilled cheeses or cooked, plain pasta (which ends up in the trash every.single.time.). The truth is, we cook dinner after Walt goes to bed. I realize his "picky eating" habits very well could be because we don't sit down together as a family and eat. We do if we go out to eat, and 90% of the meal I spend coaching Walt try things he won't eat. I end up eating four bites of my own meal. So, I prefer a nice, adult-only meal during the week. Judge away.
4. Walt sleeps with two pacis. One thing I've never had a real problem with is Walt's sleeping. We even recently weaned bottles and he's totally ok with not having a nighttime bottle. Not sure if the paci's are a sleep signal to him, but he loves them. And, I have no intention of taking them away from him anytime soon. Sleep for Walt = sleep for mom and dad.
5. We let Walt play with his iPhone. A lot. There are so many things wrong with this. The first being that he has his own iPhone. It's my old phone that I disabled the cellular service on. Honestly, this is the ONLY thing that will keep him sitting still while we do a breathing treatment or change him for bed. The "right" thing would probably be continue to encourage him to sit nicely and not be a brat. My patience for that is only so long.
I hope know that the other Super Moms have confessions of your own. I want you to know that you're doing the absolute best you can. So am I! So what if I don't give Walt organic fruit from our homemade garden? He's a super healthy little guy and I know that didn't happen by accident. I must have done SOMETHING right. All the other Super Moms are doing it right too. The formulas are just a little different for each kid. Don't feel bad if someone does it differently than you. Good luck and Godspeed :)