I am really hard on myself as a mother, I think. I tend to take bad behavior or habits squarely on my shoulders and absolve outside influences, nature and any other excuse as a reason that my kids can be tough to deal with at times. After all, this is my first shot at motherhood. I’ve only been one for 5 years and it is a massive responsibility. And I take it very seriously.
But, in the interest of giving myself a break, I have decided to share – and shamelessly brag – about what I am getting right.
My two eldest have been in school for 2 weeks now and I could not be more thrilled with the reports I am getting back. Katie has gotten in the car for all but 2 days since school started with a sticker for “winning the quiet game”! I celebrate as if it is the first every day and she grins with pride and tells me she’ll get another one the next day. The few days she did not get one a) they were out and b) it was the first day of school.
In addition, my husband got a phone call the first week from her teacher who said that she was polite, helpful, and kind to other students. He, and I, burst with so much pride it almost brought tears to my eyes.
Sarah, who had a rocky start with adjusting to her new classroom, has settled in just fine too. Every day I pick her up her teachers tell me that she is so sweet and so smart and that they are completely impressed with her manners. She did have one incident on the playground, but after she did her punishment, she apologized without prompting and was a model student the rest of the day!
I could not be more happy! If she is going to mess up, at least she knows she did and knows it is her responsibility to be remorseful. I’ll take that any day of the week over throwing a tantrum and getting into more trouble.
And I can tell you right now that they did learn manners and how to apologize from me! Because I may be lax in some areas… follow through, but I feel that a thank you and a please will get them a lot farther in life than picking up a shoe off the ground.
So, this is a pat me on the back post – meant to share that we Mom’s DO get it right… more often than we give ourselves credit for!
Share with me what YOU get right! We all deserve the extra credit!
Originally posted 9/12/2011
Great job, Mom! It’s so rewarding to see our child do well and prosper – because its a direct result of the hard work we put in as parents. What did I get right this week? I prepared a dinner….and my son ate every bite of it! Panko crusted baked “chicken fingers,” brown rice, and broccoli! He gobbled it all up and and asked for more chicken and broccoli. That was my “way to go” moment for the week… I was so happy to get it right in this case! And proud that my son is learning healthy eating at the same time!
I have 3 daughters and they all feel they can talk to me about anything. I take great pride in the fact that they come to me with all of their deepest concerns. From one thinking her teenage friend was pregnant, to telling me which kids do drugs etc. They know they can come to me without judgement and I will do my best to talk openly and honestly with them about anything.