The Mothership

I'm really good at comparing myself to others and then putting myself down and belittling my efforts.  It's really easy for me to get stressed about what others are doing with their kids and then feeling like I need to as well.  So I thought I'd make of list of comparisons as to what is REALLY important to me and what is not. Reading to my children is important;      getting my child to read before Kindergarten is not. Having enough is important;      having more than I know to do with is not. Playing with my children is important;      playing an organized game with many objectives for learning is not. Keeping in touch with people is important;      updating Facebook incessantly is not. Feeding my children is important (preferably healthy food);      feeding them homemade, everything from scratch, ALL THE TIME is not. Sleeping is important;      sleeping 8 hours is...

Luke's character qualities become ever more apparent as time flies by. It also becomes more apparent that we have the same qualities, good and bad:) Every morning before dropping Luke off at his preschool classroom, we go over what his behavior should vaguely look like for the day. It usually goes something like this: Me: "What are supposed to remember when you're away from Mommy?" Luke: "I need to make good choicesssss...listen to teachers...and not pinch my friends when we dance."  Me: "Ok, those are all good things to remember. Also, be kind with your body and words" Luke: "Ok mommy!  Have a good day!" Carolyn and I leave and do amazing things while he is away, you know like grocery shopping! When I return to the school to retrieve my son he almost always comes out of the room happy to see me and is yelling, "Hi Mommy!  I'm so glad to see you. I made good choices today!" Sometimes his teacher nods and agrees and other tim...