Hello again busy Moms. I’m here to make another confession.
Read part 1 here. I especially enjoy all the amazing comments left by other Moms on that post. Makes my heart happy!
I really am very thankful that I fail a lot! Every time I fail and every time I struggle: I judge a little less and I become a little more humble. I have realized the older I get, the more I appreciate surrounding myself with friends that refuse to judge me and take me just as I am, and in return I do the same for them.
Really, if you look at kids, they are programmed that way. They love quickly, they forgive easily, and they accept others with only the slightest bit of common ground.
So, I am trying to adopt a child’s mindset and just do the best I can. My kids love me unconditionally, and I love them more than my heart ever thought possible.
Onto my confessions….
My name is Christine. I am a Mom to three high-spirited kids. I fail a lot as a Mom.
- I can’t seem to stay on top of my kid’s homework! All three kids should be reading extra everyday and practicing their spelling. However, there are 3 of them to keep up with and extra curricular activities to work in as well!!! Some days I rock it out. I have their homework lined up, lunches made for the next day, and bags packed and ready by the door. But some days (more often than not) I am running around in the morning looking for socks that match, refereeing fights that have broken out about who gets to read the cereal box while they eat, and finding lost library books.
- I curse! I try to rein it in, but sometimes the only word that seems appropriate for the situation starts with a “Mother” and ends in an “Ucker”. I have programmed myself not to curse in front of children, so don’t be scared to come over. I may say it secretly inside my head though, especially if I stub my toe or break something.
- I do not enjoy dropper-inners because my house is rarely orderly. I try my best not to obsess over what should be picked up, but as the dropper-inner talks to me, I’m scanning the room for all the things that could have been shoved away quickly had I had even a couple minutes of notice. Sorry, that’s just how I roll.
- I love and cherish time alone. I just do. I think that’s why I enjoy working out at times all by myself. I plug-in the earphones, and block out all the daily worries and just zone out. I’m able to focus on things I do have control over. It’s a good thing.
- I don’t know what to do with papers. All types of papers. Paid bills, kids drawings from school, newsletters, cards from loved ones…anything that resembles a paper. I just freeze up and put it in a pile to file. Only I never file. It’s a problem.
- I think a woman’s hand can tell you a lot about them. I often look at women’s hands to find out more about them when I first meet them. If they have chewed nails, they may be a bit of a worrier. If they have a nice set of gel nails, they have the patience to go in over and over to get them filled. I have always wanted gel nails. But I know myself well enough to realize that I will walk around obsessing about breaking a nail. It’s ok, I admire every nice manicured hand I see (this has nothing to do with failing as a Mom…it’s just an observation.)
- I HATE putting away laundry. I fold it, but don’t put it away. My kids often pick the day’s clothes from the clean laundry basket.
- I often get lazy about making healthy suppers. Sometimes it’s just easier to throw in nuggets, or pick up the phone to the nice people at Panda Hut. The delivery dude knows my name and remembers that my daughter likes the free calendars they give out once a year.
- Sometimes I can’t wait until 5 pm to have a glass of wine. I’ve deemed 5 o’clock as the social acceptable hour to have a cocktail.
- I love my family so much, but sometimes I pull away when I miss them to make it easier that I miss them and they are far away.
- I enjoy humour perhaps a little too much. I often make inappropriate jokes at inappropriate times. I’m sorry, it’s a defense mechanism. It’s like I have a touch of tourrettes. See, inappropriate joke. Case in point.
Roll call to all busy moms, share a confession with a friend today or share one here! We all have weaknesses, and we all fail in the Mom department. Mom guilt really doesn’t serve a purpose, life is just a little easier when you can laugh about it with a friend. We are all just Moms who love our kids unmeasurably and we try our best. Let’s give each other a break! 🙂
Reclaiming LIFE 
I know I replied to the last one of these you did… But just to clarify that I am still this way! Here are some things I realize as I look around today!
_I made my bed for the first time in weeks because a friend is coming over…
I put a lock on my older daghters door so that I can lock it when company comes over and it isnt accidentally opened by my 3 yr old for all to view…
I have pets… Their hair collects in every corner and altho I really really hate pet hair, I rarely do anything about it or even notice it until someone is coming over….
OH… ha here is a good one! And my finale…
I have two dogs and havent shovelled dog poo in my back yard once since probably October… Oh yes, you can probably imagine with each layer of melting snow how much dog poo there will be once all the snow is melted… The thought of it repulses me but I just close the curtain so I dont have to look out at it and secretly hope my husband will take care of it before the kids ask to set up the trampoline… Likely I will be out there in gum boots and a face mask wishing I had done this little by little over the winter…
❤ I am so thankful to have someone to share this with! I feel better already!
I could help you with the paper thing! Pretty good at filing that kind of stuff.
Christine! You rock! I love your posts!
Okay,
Here are just a few off the top of my head today (as I’m frantically trying to have the house clean as some friends are coming from out of town today and my place looks like a tornado hit it.)
1. I do not like dropper-inners too! My old neighbour used to do it all the time and I hated it. Every time she rang that door bell I was either still in my pjs with unkept hair and baby vomit or some sort of dried children’s boogers on my shirt.
Lovely…
2. I try not to yell at my kidlets but yes I do. Not every day but my voice can get pretty high sometimes. Eeek! Trying to work on that.
3. Laundry is my true enemy. Heck, I hate folding it, putting it away and even bringing the dirty stuff to laundry room. I always have have at least 2 loads sitting in the laundry room sink waiting to be done.
4. My van looks like someone lives out of it. Every day I drop the twins off for preschool some sort of banana peel or some old McDonald’s french fries come pouring out. Even a dirty diaper at times.
5. I don’t read to my kids every night at bedtime and I always said I would. By the time I’m done putting all 3 to bed I’m so exhausted that even if I do read a story to the twins I tend to make up the words so the story becomes shorter. :>O
6. I have had happy hour as early as 4pm here.
Anyways, just a few. I have more but I have to get off this computer and go clean while the youngest is napping so I can clean my house at least a bit before company arrives.
Miss you tons Christine!
Haha…we must be related as most of your number are on my list.
The thing that I ask myself is: Are my kids happy?? Do they really care if they’re getting their clothes out the basket instead of a drawer or closet? Do those things really matter? And as long as I answer yes to yes my kids are happy then the other little things just don’t matter.
We are all good moms. We just do things a little different than other.
Thanks for sharing Christine!! 🙂
I have an unrealistic expectation of what my house should look like. I think it is a reflection of me as a wife and a mother. I know in my head this is WRONG, but I still long for a day when I am not consumed with endless paper trails and miscellaneous objects that have no home and can’t fit in the “junk drawer”.
Yes, humour. I totally get that Christine! I use humour out of nervousness, happiness, sadness, etc. It is my coping mechanism for sure. I, too, am constantly making comments, jokes, etc. and at many times they are wrong place, wrong time!
I have a potty mouth. For lent I gave up the “F” bomb and I am constantly reminding myself about it.
I am tough on my kids, but very tender inside when it comes to them. I cry at Christmas concerts, preformances, etc. I am so proud to be their mom.
Every night I go to bed and pray for more patience and the ability to just enjoy the little things. I constantly work at this. I try to control everything around me and I am so scared I am going to miss things because I was wrapped up in cleaning or whatever!
I am scared to go back to work full time. I don’t think I could handle everything. Life is just so busy.
I love my kids and husband more then anything and I am glad I am to be their mother and wife.
Thank you Christine!
Sorry about being a recent dropper-inner 🙂 Your house looked perfectly fine, though, way neater than mine actually!!
Confessions:
I’ve only spot-cleaned the kitchen floor since the cleaning lady went on holiday a 6 weeks ago. It’s kind of gross, because the baby drops a lot of food. And we have a dog. Ugh. I’ll try to mop this weekend, but it probably won’t happen.
The duvet in the guest room? Covered in a layer of cat fur because the cats like to sleep in there. I’m going to leave it like that until May when my MIL is coming to visit, because if I wash it now it’ll just be covered again in a couple of weeks!
My kids eats a ham sandwich for lunch pretty much every day, because I don’t want to argue with her. Most days, I can convince her to a few bites of a vegetable too.
I’ve always procrastinated washing the cooking post – I hate that part of doing dishes, and my husband has kind of given up on me because I’ll leave them for days before I eventually get to it. In the last 6 months, he’s just started doing them after dinner every night, so I’ve made sure that I load and unload the dishwasher every day. We didn’t actually discuss this “agreement” but it’s working and I’m happy that I rarely have to wash a pot anymore. It only took 11 years of marriage 😉
Like you, Christine, I *need* that time alone and I’ve started taking that time again (even though that means other things don’t get done). It means I don’t meet some of my commitments, but I wouldn’t get ANYTHING done if I was suffocating, which is what it feels like when I don’t get some breathing space from the noise in my house and in my head.
I can’t keep up with the laundry, I haven’t made the time to work out in weeks, I’m struggling to meet my business targets, but my kids are happy and my husband is happy, and I’m pretty damn happy too. Even the wrinkly (clean) laundry in the baskets lined up in the hall can’t get me down.
And I promise I’ll give you a few minutes warning next time before I drop in! *grin*
Tawny: I too have not been up on the backyard/dog poop zone. Luckily, I only have one dog and he’s not so big. Plus I have a 13 year old who begged for the dog and said he would pick up the poop…we shall see! lol Awww, we are so much alike it’s scary! 🙂
Mel: Thanks for the offer! lol
Megan: Love your confessions! They made me burst out laughing! I can totally relate to the vehicle confession. I miss you, Thanks for sharing 🙂
Jacquie: You are so right! My kids could care less about how clean our house is, and probably would rather pick from the clean laundry basket so they don’t have to put their clothes away! Thanks for your comment 🙂
Kyla: Your confessions brought a huge smile to my face as I (and so many of us) can relate! Control is a hard one to deal with because there is little control when raising kids. I think it’s kids that can teach us to let go and live in the moment the most though! You are a great Mom. Thank you so much for sharing.
Sarah: Thank you for sharing your confessions! Yup, I can relate to many of them. The time alone is a tough one when you are a person that enjoys being alone here and there. Kids=noise! BUT many Mom’s that suffer from empty nest syndrome have reminded me to enjoy the noise because it’s too quiet when they are grown and out of the house. I love that you ended with how happy you all are! That’s awesome.