What are you doing RIGHT?

[laurasnowbird]

Okay, I was thinking about this after reading Jodi's post, and wanted us to all give a little thought to the GREAT things we bring to our kids lives as their moms. In my response to Jodi, I said "I've decided that by the time all of my children have grown up and left the house that I will have a PhD in GUILT. Honestly, I don't know of a single mom who doesnt' believe they should be doing more, doing better, spending more quality time, etc. etc. etc. Really, the list goes on and on, and we are experts at identifying all that we think we SHOULD be doing, but aren't. We need to take the time to give ourselves credit for what we do well."

I struggle with the guilt too, I should be doing our oral-motor therapy EVERY day, and making sure we are doing Handwriting without Tears at least five days a week, yadda, yadda, yadda. Know what I mean? I never really sit down and think about what I do well, but I can give you a laundry list of what I think I could do better.

So seriously gals and guys, take a minute, and even if you don't post it here, think about what you do RIGHT for your kids! I'll start.......LOL!


I follow my instincts for Ethan, even when other people think there's nothing wrong, and I'm almost ALWAYS right. Because I refuse to give up, something good happens for him!

I make dinner almost every night, and we sit down to a homemade meal and give the Lord thanks for our food and our home.

I bake bread and cookies, and I'm teaching my daughter how to bake and can vegetables. We are having such fun!

My kids and I make construction paper decorations for our windows for every season, use lots of glitter, make lots of mess, and have a ball!

I'm teaching my children manners and respect, and they are kind, thoughtful and well-behaved kids. I'm so proud of them!

I tell my husband every day that I love him and I'd "marry him again tomorrow", cuz I would. I am soooooooo lucky to have him.

I volunteer in my community, and participate regularly in community service organizations and special education boards.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my husband and kids and I'm not shy about showing it, LOL!


All right, who is next? Seriously, that was FUN!!! Besides, I'd love to learn a little more about you guys, LOL!!!!

[mommygwen]

I thank my children when they do some thing correct: "Thank you for saying excuse me after you burped.".
I find any excuse to laugh. "The dog slipped when he walked thru the puddle of spilled milk, now he helping clean up.".
I put the dandilion and clover flowers that my son picks for me in a glass of water near me to enjoy.

[meghans_mom]

Is it really sad that I can't think of one good thing that i do right....?

Laurie (who just is grouchy as heck today)

[laurasnowbird]

Gwen,

Thanks for the giggle!!!!

Laurie,

TRY AGAIN!!! Here, let me help. This is just what I know online, so you're going to have to do better than this:

Laurie ALWAYS helps other people online in any way she can, either by sharing knowledge, or an ear, or a funny.

Laurie volunteers in her local DS community with fundraisers....!

Laurie is an awesome advocate for MM, and helps other parents online with their IEP questions.

Laurie is just plain NICE and I always love reading her encouragin answers to my posts!!

HUGS!!!!!!!

Laura

[poojamom]

Hmmm,

What I could do better! I can write a book,LOL

What I do right!

Every day I wake my kids up with a hug and a kiss.
I try to give them balanced home cooked meals everyday.
I dance with them silly.
Tell them I love them thro' out the day
Always ask them how their day was after school

[CC]

"what you do RIGHT for your kids"

For me I will say I LOVE them both with all my heart and are there for them 24/7 if needed and they know that ;D

and

when needed they get the tough love which they may not like at times LOL BUT in the end its right for them, least I think so

CC ~

[kellyds]

I'm doing the very best I can, with the knowledge and experience that I now have. In years to come, when I kick myself for some of the parenting decisions I've made (and we ALL do some of that as our children grow up), at least I'll be able to comfort myself with the knowledge that I truly did my very best.

One practical thing I have done for years is to designate Mondays as "errand day". I take ONE child with me on those days, taking turns according to age. We do all the family errands, buy that child shoes or whatever their special need might be at the moment, go out to lunch, and do something that child enjoys. One daughter likes to swing at the park for awhile, another enjoys browsing second hand stores.

My kids are homeschooled, so I build this "day off" each month into their curriculum plans. Even my teens treat "errand day with Mom" with great respect, turning down offers of outings with friends in order to not miss "their turn doing errands". I am VERY flattered! ;D

[Chris]

I am very affectionate with my kids and they know they are loved. My 5'10 16 year old daughter still loves to sit in my lap and cuddle ( I love it too even though she is really getting way too big for my lap!).

My children know that I love, love, love my husband. I think it is sooo important for kids to see that!

My older daughter understands the value of money. She is the best bargain hunter and won't buy something unless it is a great price. She has learned to save her money to buy what she really wants.

I have taught my children the value of a good education.

My older daughter understands that life isn't fair. I wish I had learned this when I was young.

I take time to really enjoy my kids.

My children refuse to eat bottled spaghetti sauce. I spoil them by making most of our meals from scratch.

Chris

[meghans_mom]

Thank you Laura...like I said...was feeling grouchy and not too sure of my parenting expertise these days ;-)
These days I just feel so torn and busy and like I'm not giving the kids enough attention, being pulled in too many directions. Hopefully now that school is in full swing and we're getting used to the new schedules, things will calm down. It just feels like rush-rush-rush all the time! And I'm focusing more on what Meghan *isnt* doing well in school rather than what she *is* (which her good stuff way outweighs the bad....it's just i'm obsessing over the other stuff) -- and I feel like what she is doing "wrong" is all my fault....and in the grand scheme of things, the stuff she isn't doing so well, isn't all that bad! She is playing well with her peers, participating, sitting and listening when she is supposed to, eating her lunch, writing all her letters beautifully, etc, etc.
<sigh> somehow I hijacked this post...and still can't come up with any decent answers, LOL!
So I'll just take what Laura said....