Reading an article on Shine.com today got me to thinking about my pre-kid days when I though I knew everything about being a good parent anyway. How does that even work? No kids but I knew it all anyway...can we say "Obnoxious?"
Turns out I of course knew squat. And though I've been a mommy more years than I can believe, I still feel like I could be told to turn in my "mommy membership card" at anytime, lol.
Some of the things I swore to my "Miss Know It All Self" before I actually had any field experience were--
"I will never feed my kids candy or any junk food." Yea--right. But I do feed them nutritious meals too, and give them vitamins..does that count??
"I will never ever lie to my kids." Uh...well...do little white ones count? I mean, I had to say I love the haircut my daughter gave herself when she was four, didn't I? And yea, telling my son mommy and daddy were playing a tickling game was kind of necessary at the time, kwim? And I know it may be stretching the truth, but what if that last piece of chocolate cake was essential to my sanity that day? Didn't I have the right, for my children's welfare, come on, to tell them there was no more cake left when really that last piece was so well hidden even Geraldo wouldn't have been able to find it?
"I will never yell, lose my temper, or show my anger in front of my kids"
Hmm. Really wish I could have kept that one, but....I have to admit I am guilty of blown fuses more than once. OK. Mrs. Brady I'm not. But I thought I would be like that, calm, cool, always present and understanding. Always have a solution and a smile. So when did I turn into Roseanne? Maybe it's because I don't have an Alice!
"I will never say anything that sounds like my mom." Can we just say I have made some progress in this area? Now when I say something to one of my kids that sounds like my mom was standing there actually saying it instead, I no longer cringe. I just laugh. Kind of like a Roseanne laugh.
"I will never hear my kids tell me that I just don't understand, because I will never give them any reason to." I don't understand how I became the parent that my kids, especially my daughter, thinks "just doesn't get it." Hrumph. One day she will have kids, and then she'll see!
Tell me I'm not alone though. Have you done things as a parent that you promised yourself you wouldn't?