Here's what I know for sure about parenting:
I don't know how to be a mother, but I am a good one anyway.
My kids will not always act perfectly, and I will be "that mom" with the screaming kid in the store alot, but it is not going to define me as a mother. I am more than that moment. And you are too.
I can love them and still screw them up. But I keep trying to do better.
I am not my mother, and I NEVER WILL BE.
I set the tone for this household. When mama is happy, kids are happy. I set the tone, and I need to always remember that. It's up to me.
Laundry piles up. Never skip a day.
Wine is good, but tea is better. And sleep is best.
The cure for a meltdown is compassion. Yes, they need to console themselves, but they can do that just as easily in my arms as out.
I must ALWAYS apologize when I have wronged my children. Sincerely and with eye contact.
It's okay to cry in front of my kids.
Laughing, wrestling, and acting like fools is required.
Sometimes the most powerful thing I can give my kids is love, because it is hard to understand a 2 year olds desperate need for a spatula and an oven mitt RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW.
Occasionally they will confound me (a spatula, really, this is something to have a kicking screaming meltdown over?) but I will still always know them better than anyone else.
If there is ever any question, the answer is love. And chocolate. And wine.
Ahem.
