Being a Mom is hard work

I thought it would be easier than this. Being a kid, it seemed like my mom had it good. We were doing our own laundry at the end of elementary school. We had a rotation for doing the dishes (it didn't matter if it was my birthday either, I still had to do them). We usually had dinner started before she got home. And we did most of the house cleaning, under Dan's white glove inspection orders. For a time there, we even did her laundry. (For the record, it was David's idea to hide Dan's socks and underwear). We would pick Dani and Ashley up from school. We even helped potty train Dani. This was all filed under the heading of "learning to be responsible". Being a mom seemed like a pretty cushy job.

The hardest part seemed to be the punishments. But I've been grounded enough in my life. How hard can it be? I've even been grounded with less than substantial evidence, and ridiculous reasoning. I can do that.

Then I had kids.

I had no idea that mom's worry so much. I was talking to a friend a couple of weeks ago. At the moment she's childless, but she's an educator. So we start talking about my boys. I started admitting all that I'm worried about as a mom. Ben's speech is getting better, but he still has a hard time pronouncing "breakfast" and anything with a "th" in it. He's memorized his phone number, but not his address. He totally blanked on his last name a couple of days ago. He can tie his shoes but he's not even close to reading. I want him to be prepared for Kindergarten, but I'm constantly worried that I'm not preparing him for the right things. Will he be accepted by his peers if he doesn't know the sounds of his letters? This is a tiny part about what a mom worries about. My friend told me to chill out. In theory that sounds nice. Am I capable of doing that?! Every mom wants their kid to be smart, funny, athletic, musical, a prodigy, well rounded and polite but most imporantly...normal. You want them to be liked and cherished by others, but you want them to be free thinkers and know right from wrong. You want them to succeed but you don't want them to be stuck up and cocky. It seriously hurts my brain.

My sister was on Facebook the other day and commented about "Why do mothers assume you'll do something bad, and that you are untrustworthy?"

Because your child not succeeding at life is your greatest despair. You don't want them to struggle too much, or they might lose their drive or their passion. You don't want them to fall down too much, or them might forget what it feels like to be in the clouds. You don't want them to have too many broken hearts, or they'll settle for something that barely trumps the last romance and they'll think they don't deserve a soul mate.

If a mother constantly protects, she's considered a temporary nuisance. One day, you'll realize the benefit from it, but not today. If she leaves you to your own devises, she's considered uncaring and unfit. And one day, you'll blame her for all your shortcomings and unhappiness.

I, personally, plan on being the overprotective nuisance. And I promise to TRY to "chill out" and let my kids be kids!