Aiming For Average

by ParentCo. February 20, 2017

There is so much pressure to be the world’s best mom, pressure from myself, pressure from my kids, and pressure from the outside world. I have wasted so much time and energy trying to compete with all the Pinterest-perfect moms out there. Quite frankly, I am at the point now that I am sick of hearing about how great everyone else is doing and what wonderful things they are doing for their kids all the time. It’s not that I don’t want to do these fabulous things for my kids, it’s just that I can’t keep up. Honestly, I am done feeling the pressure. Between working full-time, momming full-time, and life’s roller coaster ride of ups-and-downs, I am done feeling the guilt. So, my new motto is: Aiming for average. I am not a perfect mom. Hell, I don’t even think I am a really good mom. I’m average. I love my kids with all my heart. I do my very best every day to give them everything they need and make them happy, but I admit: I can’t do it all. Let’s break it down. What is wrong with being average? What is wrong with being typical, common, or ordinary. Why do we all have to stress ourselves out and make ourselves crazy striving to be perfect? Have you ever even met someone that is actually perfect? They may appear to be, but once you get to know them, you quickly find out they have flaws like everyone else. So, I am done. In an effort to not be confused with all those perfect moms out there, here are some things that I do that are not perfect. These are my confessions:

• Sometimes my kids don’t brush their teeth before going to bed.
• I don’t make festive holiday decorations and cute crafts to put out on the front porch of the house. I just don’t want to.
• Swimming lessons definitely count as a bath, don’t they?
• There are times I skip pages when I read to my kids.
• I don't make organic, seasonal Pinterest treats to for my kids to bring to their school birthday parties or to team sports. I buy treats at Costco, in bulk…and they are never organic.
• Sometimes, if I don’t get all the laundry done, I Febreze my kids dirty pants before school so they don’t smell.
• I throw out more than half of my kid’s artwork. I don’t want four million pieces of paper with two scribbles on them. I keep a few of the best and toss the rest.
• My kids ride the bus to school. The big, yellow one that stops at the corner to pick them up. I make my kids stand outside at the bus stop, even in the winter.
• More often than not, I just put a towel over the wet pee spot on my daughter’s sheets in the middle of the night when she has an accident.
• I allow my daughter to go to school with her hair unbrushed and ratted up in knots. It’s not worth the fight in the morning.

Phew….I feel so much better after getting all that off my chest. I’ve come clean. I’m not perfect. I’m average. So, am I a bad mom? I don’t think so. I’m an average, regular, normal mom. How do I navigate being an average mom? Humor. It is all I know. All I can do is laugh at the crazy because I can’t do it all. I can’t even do most of it. I’m average, and now, I’m ok with that.

---

---

Also in Conversations