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.