Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Mom Victory

So, I think that, both in the blog world and in the real world, we mom's are really good at airing our self-disappointment. We don't throw ourselves under the train all day every day, but pretty much every mom I know is openly critical of herself from time to time. Myself DEFINITELY included.

So I thought I would take a moment to share 2 of my "Mom-Victories"..."momories"...whatever.

Let me preface my self-praise with some self-criticism:), I am the type of woman who thinks that one of the hardest parts of parenting is accepting the fact that you can't have control...over MOST things. I control some things, but FAR fewer than I thought I would be able to. And this is often excruciating!

BUT, I get a lot of mom-joy from trying to realistically choose goals that I CAN control, and then trying to actually meet my goals. And in the early days of parenting, when the realities of my own lack of skills/intuition were crashing down around me, I set a couple of clear, direct goals for myself. They were benchmarks I would either meet or not meet, but were not related to how much my kids cried/slept/ate/or otherwise performed.

I can now officially announce that I have met 2 of my most significant goals for Ben!! Woohoo!! Roll out the party! Give me a trophy!! Seriously, people(I know there are at least 3 of you who will read this), praise me! :)

On Ben's 5th b-day, I passed second of 2 markers that I set for myself:

1. That my children would not watch t.v. while they were under the age of 2.

and

2. That my children would not get sunburned while they were under the age of 5.

Now that I have met my goals, I can stop pretending to parent altogether. Seriously, it's t.v. pretty much 24/7 around here, and I threw out all the sunscreen in Nov.

I know I still have to get Molly to her 5th birthday sans sunburn...but she'll be 3 soon, so I've got the end in my sights:)

Phew...glad that's over! Pass the bonbons, turn on Oprah, and fetch me a glass of chardonnay, please??!

4 comments:

Momma Maria said...

Pass me a glass, too, oh mom victor!

Francie said...

Cheers!!! Way to go!!! :) Good for you for even setting those goals...I think all of mine went out the window a few weeks after we brought Owen home. ;)

Gretchen said...

Yay!!! Congratulations, Emily! You wholeheartedly deserve it, as well as your chardonnay and bon bons.

Unknown said...

Way to go friend! I can help you with that bottle of Chardonnay. In fact, I can provide you with one!