Today on Facebook a friend updated her status by saying that she wouldn’t win any Mother of the Year awards for forgetting there was a 1/2 day of school today and as a result her daughter had to go to a friend’s house off the bus. I responded by saying that she was a good mom because she gave her daughter the tools she needed to know what to do in that situation.
We are all good moms. We are all trying our best for our kids. Sometimes we fail, most of the time we succeed. As moms we put so much emphasis on our flaws. Although isn’t that true of everything we do as women? Something is wrong here.
I’ve been thinking a lot of this video that went viral a while back.
We’ve all been there. We have all scrutinized our parenting skills, but guess what? Our kids don’t. This morning Lovey was sitting in the doorway on the floor while Honey was trying to leave for work. I told her that sitting in the doorway wasn’t a great choice because she was blocking it and she could get hurt. She just sat there. I quickly realized it was intentional and asked her what was wrong. She just shrugged. It was then I figured out she just needed me. I asked her if she wanted some love and she nodded and came over and climbed in my lap. We sat like that for a few minutes. I whispered some loving words to her and filled her hand with love that she could take to school. She bounded off to play with her sister with a big smile on her face. All she wanted was me. She didn’t need me at my best, or doing something cool, or helping her with something; she just needed me. As parents in the rush of life we often forget that our kids just want our time, plain and simple. If we give them that they forget about the times we didn’t wash their favorite shirt or forced them to eat one.more.piece of broccoli.
After watching the viral video I stumbled on this story about a guy who pays the check of a mother eating in a restaurant with her children. He compliments her on her parenting skills at a time when she was probably thinking she was sucking it up. Then one of my favorite blogs, Cup of Jo, linked to this story about telling mothers they are good at what they do.
I see good moms out their all the time. My friend on FB forgot her daughter had a half day. She’s a good mom, she had a back up plan that was followed. My friend had to take her son out of the church pew on Sunday because she was loud. She’s a good mom; she is teaching her son about rules, routines, and expectations. The mom who forgoes cooking dinner and drives through Mcdonald’s so she can spend more time playing and less time cooking is a good mom too.
We are all good moms and we don’t hear it enough from ourselves or from others. Here is my two-part challenge for you: (1) Right now comment and tell me one thing you’ve done today that makes you a good mom. It doesn’t have to be life-altering, just something. (2) Comment and tell me one thing someone else has done that you’ve witnessed that makes them a good mom. Then go tell them, preferably on social media so everyone they know can see what a great mom they are too. And here’s a bonus challenge: Tell a stranger you see doing something good-mom-worthy that you noticed it. I’m guessing it will make their day, and probably yours too.
CT Working Moms 
1. After getting lost in cleaning up dishes and other chores, I looped back to my daughter and asked if she had any other drawings she needed me color. After the tenth request for a ‘house’, I ‘took a break’.
2. After a really scary and draining day at work, my spouse made the next chapter of ‘Harry Potter’ a priority.
This was great…
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I helped my son with his homework via FaceTime from Buffalo, NY while on a business trip.
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Good job to all of you!
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1. I snuggled with my big boy this morning just for 2 minutes that he would let me
2. I am at a loss due to the fact that I haven’t seen my Mom friends in a long time…I a going to keep an eye out
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I love this so much and love that you’re challenging people with a few things!
1) Hmmm I’m kind of stumped. I didn’t do anything extraordinary today but every morning I help my daughter get up, dressed and take care of her while getting ready for work and I do it solo because my husband has already left for the day. Sorry, my answer it kind of lame but maybe just providing the normal day-to-day routine works as an answer?
2) This one is so much easier for me to answer, although it was hard to pick one mom because there are so many mamas that I think are just completely awesome. I’m going to go with Christa. She’s a great mom because she teachers her daughter to be loving, caring and independent. There’s been many times that I’ve learned from watching her parent her daughter. Especially around issues of independence. I have a tendency to not give my daughter enough credit thinking she’s too young to do certain things and then I see how Christa encourages independence and it helps me be a better parent. I also think that Christa is showing her daughter that you can make career changes at any point in your life if you need to and that it’s completely OK. I admire her in many, many ways.
3) Going to post on FB now!
Thanks for this post Cora and the reminder to tell other moms that we think their great!
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Getting through the drudgery of the morning routine in one piece is definitely good-mom-worthy! I do it everyday by myself too.
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Tonight I stopped everything when I saw the biggest smile on my little girls face. Rounds of tickles and great laughs followed. Had I walked past the smile, I wouldn’t have shared that with her. My spouse stopped everything when my girl later grabbed the mic to sing us all our bedtime songs. We all stopped, watched her perform, clapped, and then commented on our silly family. Those were my favorite moments today, just stopping and being in them, and watching the rest of the family do the same.
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Ok, here’s mine: 1) I’m doing bedtime solo with two kids this week and I lost my cool the first night when the older one was screaming for me while I put the little one to bed. Tonight she kept coming and while I was nursing the little one, but I really kept my cool. Even though she should have been in bed, I asked her to wait on the couch and then we snuggled for a few minutes – kind of like you did with yours. She just need a few more snuggles. I could have gotten upset, but I kept my cool and got some great extra quality time with her! 2) Today my co-worker had to leave work quite early because her 2 year old was throwing up at daycare. Rather than get upset about her car possibly getting yucky – she improvised and made a makeshift bucket from shopping bags for her kiddo for the ride home. I can’t imagine that was a fun drive! 3) I’ll work on that one next time I’m out in public. Great post!
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Good job Jenn, you’re a great mom!
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