Am I a bad mom?
I received a belated Christmas letter today and it made me wonder--am I a bad mom? The reason it made me wonder is that it's one of those letters where the kids are all wonderful, involved in all kinds of sports and voluteer activities all while being outstanding students. The mother coaches a couple of those teams, runs in marathons, writes and has a part time job, all while being a single mom to 4 kids. As a family they do all sorts of cool things, skiing, mountain climbing, hiking, etc. Our family does none of that. Granted, my kids are much younger than hers (her oldest is a senior in high school), but I found myself wondering if they'll ever be like that. And why should they? Their father and I certainly aren't. That's not to say that we're lazy people who lie around and have no hobbies or intellectual pursuits, quite the opposite. But our life is much quieter--we are homebodies at heart.
So I guess I've just answered my own question--I'm not a bad mom, just different than her. Just like everyone else is different from me. I need to stop measuring my parenting skills or my kids achievements according to what others do because we are not them and their way wouldn't work for us. My kids are smart, happy and healthy with an active curiosity about all sorts of things--isn't that the most important thing?
Wips--Baby Sampler, JN's With my Needle, Mira's Rose of Sharon, Dimensions Enchanted Cottage, L&L's Celtic Spring, SB's Sophie's Roses, Mystery Garden
So I guess I've just answered my own question--I'm not a bad mom, just different than her. Just like everyone else is different from me. I need to stop measuring my parenting skills or my kids achievements according to what others do because we are not them and their way wouldn't work for us. My kids are smart, happy and healthy with an active curiosity about all sorts of things--isn't that the most important thing?
Wips--Baby Sampler, JN's With my Needle, Mira's Rose of Sharon, Dimensions Enchanted Cottage, L&L's Celtic Spring, SB's Sophie's Roses, Mystery Garden
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