About Me

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Manhattan, Kansas, United States
I'm a 33 year old woman finding her own way in life, while being a mother of almost 7 yr old girl Angel, going to college full-time and working as many hours as i can to get by. I've lived in Kansas all my life growing up in SW and now living in The ne corner for 12 years. My ex is a medically-disabled/retired OIF/OEF veteran (TBI,PTSD) and my daughter is topping the scales on height and knowledge of her age. I'm just along for the ride sometimes :)

Sunday, February 6, 2011

I'm not a Bad Mom...

There's so much unspoken pressure put on Moms nowadays. Well, ok, I guess Mom's have always been the ones with all the responsiblities regarding the children and homes. And the ones to blame if their kids turned out bad. I'm brave enough to admit that I may not be a "perfect" mom. And here's why....

1. I don't spend 24 hours with my daughter. I work. She socializes with friends and fun games for 8.5 hours of the weekdays. But I try to make up for it with "Mommy-Sweetie" times/afternoons/weekends.

2. I let her drink all the juice she wants. It's Orange-Pineapple-Apple juice from concentrate. That's got twice the mix of water that is required. Economical AND healthier.

3. When she was 1 year old, she was watching TV. Probably about 4 hours worth a day. Don't judge me. It consisted strictly of Barney and a little bit of Blues Clues. Go ahead and judge now. My daughter shares better than most adults I know and She Can Read! At age 4. I'll never get that wonderful "I love you" song out of my head, but the version I like to keep in reserves is the one of the sweetest, loving 2 year old voice singing it.

4. My house is not always clean. Heck, it's rarely presentable anymore. But I'd rather spend 30 minutes cuddling with my Sweetie than straightening bookshelves or doing laundry.

5. Angel has free range option with the fridge. And now freezer since she's shot up faster than that danged beanstalk. She sees something she wants. She eats it. Or brings to us to cook it so she can eat it. But usually, she's asking for apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries, and the random piece of bologna or cheese.

6. We regularly take dinner trips to McDonalds. It's her favorite treat place (and mine). Go ahead, ask her to order. "Happymeal wit Chik nuggets and milk. And APPLES! But no appledipper. That's healthy!" She seriously gets mad if they mix it up and give her french fries instead of apples. Oh yeah.

7. She spends more time on the computer than either me or my husband. Internet has replaced the tv-time it seems. We've even bookmarked the two sites she goes to so that we don't have to help her find them. 1) www.nickjr.com 2) http://pbskids.com Bacteria-infested sponges that are named "Bob" or their equivalents are nowhere to be found. I'm pretty sure I can do experiements and prove that watching sea-faring Bob will seriously dumb-down your children. But that's another story.... Both sites are either chock-full of educational games or kid-friendly videos (i.e. Sesame Street, Blues Clues, Max & Ruby...)

8. I will put my daughter in time-out and on a rare occasion, swat her butt when she misbehaves. Nope, she's not perfect and neither am I. But I make sure that she knows why exactly she's in trouble, we talk it out afterwards ("Next time, you need to...), and always give her a huge hug and make sure she knows I love her. I personally think the world would turn out less miscreantes, thugs, and criminals if parents would discover this blend of love and consequences. If you go to the extreme on either side, you're asking for trouble.

I know I'm not perfect. But I do what I can. My daughter may be spoiled, but she's far from rotten. And she's mine. :)