Our friends Tim and Amanda were visiting with their two kids, ages 3 years and 5 months, when Amanda mentioned something I thought was brilliant: confessions of bad parenting. Not like, serious stuff, but those times when you do something you never thought you would do and think, "Wowsers, I hope no one ever finds out about that!" Like oh... I don't know... seeing that pee spot on your son's onesie is only a little bigger than a half dollar, it'll dry. He's fine. Or eschewing all "back is best" because dang it, your kid is sleeping so well on his tummy right now. Or, GASP, putting a loose blanket over your son because you just don't want to wake him up to put the safe wearable blanket on him.
My mom has said the phrase, "Wow, how did you guys ever survive" about 50 times since Z was born as she has heard me spouting out the millions of DO and DO NOT DO rules that are heaped upon new parents. (Not to mention the pressures some of us put on ourselves with our lifestyle desires and choices, Natural fibers! glass bottles! cloth diapers! organic food! GAH! IS THAT ORGANIC!?) My parents call it "information saturation" and they are probably right. We know WAY too much for our own good and it makes us crazy. The worst part of it is that our "wired" lives make it so easy to feel like everyone else is doing things perfectly and we are the only ones experiencing parenting fails or deciding to cheat and break rules or leave their kid in that pee outfit because he hates having his clothes changed. Just ain't so my friends. We all have parenting fails. Now and forever.
One thing I have loved about becoming a mom is the way it has changed the dynamic of my relationship with our parents. My mom and mother in law have started telling me more stories about their experiences as new moms and the things they learned along the way. It's fantastic and it shows me that I'm doing okay. I've always thought of both of them as the epitome of being a mom. My mom was always teaching us and even though she's not a feisty lady, boy, when she raised that finger to us or told us it was time to clean up or whatever, we did it. (Well, I did. Aaron was naughty child) Joe's mom has always amazed me with her ability to juggle all of her responsibilities and still keep smiling and laughing. Somehow she can always figure out how to fit one (or five!) more people at her table when her sons show up with friends. But even these towers of motherhood did ridiculous things. They are full of stories of putting on clothes wrong, breaking "rules" and basically just riding the waves of life and going with the flow. It makes me aspire to be like them even more.
All this to say, yep, I forgot to bring Z's diaper bag to his first appointment. (We packed it so carefully and then forgot the whole dang bag! Of course Z soiled himself and I was so embarassed when I didn't have a new diaper for him. The nurse kindly fetched one for us.) Maybe it was the first time I hung my head and thought, "Ug, mom fail" but I'm sure it won't be the last. And, you know what, that's okay.
Sara, I LOVE it. I've decided the blog will be titled "Room for Improvement" and I have more material than I know what to do with. I'd love for friends to have guest appearances when they want. It should be fun. No worries I do the pee thing sometimes too, especially the days it feels like they wet through everything. Just remember pee is sterile.
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