Mommy Regrets
We all have them. As hard as we try to follow all the parenting advice out there, we know we aren’t perfect Mommies. In fact, there is no such thing. There is always something we can do better.
Of course I don’t lie awake at night thinking of my shortcomings. In fact, I don’t lie awake at night at all unless I’m being paged by one boy or the other. But there are things I think about occasionally that I wish I had done or simply admire in those who do.
Pro-Environment Parenting
I am bad for the environment. I’m not too hot at recycling, despite my good intentions, and my children have probably filled their own landfill with dirty diapers. Although recently we’ve started dumping the poop from Jake’s diaper in the potty as part of our VERY gradual progression toward eventual potty training (maybe.)
There are so many things I can do better as far as the environment is concerned. One of the biggest that I was reminded of recently is cloth diapers. I occasionally work with Bryana, the owner of ClothDiaperBlog.com, and have learned a great deal about cloth diapers. I have tremendous amounts of respect for cloth diapering mommies out there.
The cloth diapers today are so adorable and seem so much simpler than I ever thought they could be. Somehow though, I never actually committed to using them. I’m reasonably sure it is because I’m lazier than I like to admit. Disposables are easy, but cloth diapers would have made me feel like a good mommy.
Healthy Food
Okay, my toddler and I had pizza for lunch. It was a cheese pizza at least, and there is some redeeming value in the cheese and tomato sauce, but that means nothing really. The pizza was not an isolated event. I’m guilty of all kinds of toddler crimes including juice that is not watered down, French fries, candy and at least one popsicle a day.
I try to do healthy food, but somehow the healthy items never seem to win out over the fast and easy ones. Plus the bad stuff tastes so good!
Now, before you report me for bad mothering, I should tell you that we had pasta, ham, steamed corn and green beans for dinner. And then we had whole wheat waffles for a snack, followed by a handful of whole grain goldfish. My toddler was upset we were out of apples, and prefers fruit to bread. I have no idea where that particular trait came from.
Outside Play
For the first almost two years of my son’s life I was anti-battery. Toys were not allowed to come with batteries, and the television was rarely on in his presence. We went on walks, we hiked, we played outside, and we found fun games to do inside. My latest party trick, however, is to recite the entire Disney Channel line-up compete with theme song (dum, de dum, dum…Handy Manny!)
This has a lot to do with the newborn in my house and the almost 100 degree weather outside. There are few places to go that entertain a toddler without driving mom loopy and dealing with a newborn at home means Jake runs a bit wild and needs distraction.
This is a temporary problem, however. Soon the weather will be a bit milder and Brian will be able to stand the Texas heat. Then we’ll get away from the television and spend more time in the yard or park. All the inside time is starting to drive me nuts, too.
