At the park today I had an older woman look at me and say, "you're a good mom". My response was something along the lines of, "well, my kids sure don't think so". I wish it hadn't been. I wish I had thanked her, really thanked her. That woman had no idea how much I needed to hear her say that in that very moment. I had seen her eyes glancing in our direction from the time we pulled up. My dear Ana began crying the minute we got out of the car. She HATES the park. I make her play! We had brought a picnic lunch and decided to eat it up on the grassy hill that overlooked the rest of the park. Ana stood crying at the bottom because she had no desire to climb the hill. Once she realized there was food in the deal however, she decided to comply. The woman glanced our way periodically as we ate lunch, usually when I was explaining once again that nobody was going to have marshmallows until they ate some fruit.
After lunch we headed down the hill for play time. Cue tears from Ana. I brought bikes, scooters and even the sin-mobile (the little tikes cozy coupe) for the kids to ride on. Each kid grabbed a set of wheels and headed in a different direction, Ana screaming uncontrollably at this point. Alex quickly decided to opt out of rule following for the day. He refused to stay on the path with his car and earned a time out. While he sat I grabbed Ana by the hand and told her she needed to find something to do. I sent her off to climb the rock wall (something she is totally capable of) reminding her that once she got to the top she could go down the big slide. I cheered her on while she, in full blown tantrum at this point, reluctantly climbed. This was the point that dear angel of a woman made her remark.
It was only a few minutes later that she was on her way out with her granddaughter, but that comment got me through the rest of the day which included: AN HOUR AND A HALF of non-stop tantrum from Ana, 4 time outs for Alex, bath-time and meal-time battles with Luke, meal-time battles with Alex, and oh yeah let's not forget about the awful "morning sickness" that I am feeling. The point of all of this is not to say that I am a good mom. The point is that if you ever encounter a mom looking like she is at her wits end as she tries to hold everything together, please tell her she is doing a good job. I don't think I am a good mom, and God knows the truth of the way I struggle, but sometimes I need to stop and remember just how many balls I am juggling and give myself a pat on the back, albeit a quick one lest I drop one of those balls. :)
So to all of my mommy friends I want to tell you that you are a good mom!
