*** Takeover #12 ***
Let's welcome Jamie from Snow In Decemberas she is next to takeover my blog for the month of November. Are you wondering what's going on? Check out this post where I explain what's happening. A very special thank you to ALL my friends who have so willingly stepped in to TAKEOVER my blog for a couple weeks :)
Let me just tell you this post gave me chills. As a mother of 3 myself, I often find myself asking the same questions as Jamie. So thanks girl, for giving us all a little perspective. I think we could all losen up a bit, and learn to have fun more often :)
You know the saying, "They're only little once"?
So true.
As a modern mother, sometimes I get caught up in what my children should be doing at their age, how far they have advanced since the last check-up, how many words my toddler can say, how many steps the baby can take, or how well the oldest one can read.
I want the best for them, naturally. But is "the best" measured in how much they can do, or how happy they are?
I vote happy.
Motherhood was not originally my choice line of work. I spent some time in the Air Force, went to college, then BAM! I was a mother. And before I knew it, BAM, BAM! I was a mother of three. For my first two years of mommy-hood, I parented with a "by the book" approach.
Did we have fun? Sure, I think so. But honestly, it was more structure. Lessons. Lots of love, yes, but also lots of order.
Perhaps even too much.
My daughter at 2 (who is now 5) was advanced in every area, obedient to a fault, ate super healthy, and followed a strict schedule at home. She was the perfect toddler, really. But eventually I realized that having "the perfect toddler" would mean nothing in four years, when she began to navigate the world of the opposite sex; or in eleven years, when she got her period and needed someone to talk to; or in fourteen years, when her first love broke her heart.
What would matter in those times was our mother daughter bond.
At that point I realized I needed a little more leniency, love, and fun in my parenting portfolio.
So I eased up a little. It wasn't hard, actually, when babies 2 and 3 came along in the span of a year and a half. The routine flew out the window, and we began to simply have fun.
Potty talk, silly face, candy before dinner, "my mom is crazy" fun.
My kids are still good kids, and we still have rules, boundaries, and expectations for them to follow. But I am no longer obsessed with the timeline, the schedule, the manners.
My family is happy. We're silly.
We burp at our dinner table and laugh at dumb jokes. We play hide and seek inside and set up forts with chairs and blankets in the living room.
We play nerf guns in the house and have movie nights every Friday.
And life is simply more fun that way.
PS: I'm Jamie and I blog at Snow In December. Come say hi!
**Thank you so much Jamie**
