Superwoman

Why is it when people give us a compliment we usually have a really hard time accepting it? This is one I have noticed recently. I have told a couple of parents lately that they were Super Wo(man), and they each replied something to the affect of, "I don't really feel like it, but thanks." A few days later someone gave me the same compliment, and I responded with the similar disbelief of my own awesomeness.

Why do we do that? Well, probably because we AREN'T Super Wo(man), and we know that.

We make a lot of mistakes as parents. Las week I had to apologize to my daughter because I made her stand in the corner for something her little sister did. My heart broke as I tried to explain to the sobbing toddler that I had made a mistake. She looked up at me with tear stained cheeks, touched my face and said, "No biggie, Mommy. I wuv you so much."

She knew I was doing my best.

We don't always stick to those rules for parenting we made at 7 months pregnant. Did any of you do this one: "I swear to NEVER feed my child fast food!" You know what my kids ate on Saturday for lunch? Chicken Nuggets and French Fries. We had pizza for breakfast that day. We had ice cream that night. As I sat in bed that night I felt so guilty about the lack of fruits and veggies that had entered my childrens' growing bodies, but

I knew I was doing my best.

You can read hundreds of articles online about how to react to your children without yelling. You can say this, or you can have them do that. Here's the reality: Sometimes we yell. I have a meter. My meter ranges from "My child can do no wrong" to "You better watch out because mommy is on her 6th cup of coffee and is a raging lunatic." When the needle approaches the latter, after a day of cleaning up animal and child accidents, picking rice out of the carpet, falling on my butt on the ice, spilling coffee on my white blouse, burning dinner, and remembering I have a paper due the next day, the chances of mommy losing it are much higher, but

I know I am doing my best.

Naptimes are a really great time to get stuff done! You can do all of the pesky chores that are next to impossible to do when little hands are constantly trying to "help." Yep. That's ideal. You know what else? I'm really tired. I have a puppy, a 3 year old, and an 18 month old who wake me up an average of 4 times a night. When my kids take naps, I don't always rush around getting the house spotless. Sometimes I sleep, too. My husband must hate coming home for lunch and seeing the rest of the family in bed, but

He knows I am doing my best.

I have friends and family members who remember EVERY birthday and anniversary. They will always send a card a couple of days early to make sure the special someone recieves their well-wishes on time. I tried to do that once. I had a calendar and I tried to collect all of the important dates. I lost the calendar. And I didn't have any cards to send. And I didn't have time to write sweet little notes. And we didn't have any stamps. No one gets cards from me. Not for their birthday. Not for their anniversary. Not for Christmas. Sorry.

I am doing my best.

Those are just a FEW of the reasons that we don't take that compliment easily. Because we aren't Super Men or Women. We fall short. We always will. We won't get everything done every day. Some days are GREAT! Some days are really hard. BUT THAT IS OK!!

Because you are doing your very best. I have yet to meet a parent who said, "Ya, I'm just half-assing this whole parenting thing. I really like to put my energy into cleaning the house." If you are a parent, you are trying your darndest!

So the next time someone tells you that you are Super Wo(man), say THANK YOU!! Knowing full well that you aren't! And chances are, they know that you aren't! They know some days suck horribly, but they ALSO know that you keep on going. You keep doing your best, and THAT, my friends, is what makes you SUPER!!