Sunday, October 12, 2008

Supermom . . . NOT!

As much as I want to be, it's a fact that I'm not a supermom nor a superwife. Some days I go to bed feeling really good that I made it through another day without hiding in the closet or locking my kids out of the house. Some weeks pass and the most amazing thing that happened in our house is that I not only washed all of the laundry, but it got folded and put away before the hampers were full again. My boys eat cold cereal for breakfast more than they should, they watch tv more than I like to admit, and I generally find a reason to yell at one or both of them at least once a day. Just the thought of homeschooling practically sends me into panic mode. I tried to cut Adam's hair once and we ended up having to shave his head. I don't sew, their rooms are not perfectly decorated, I have never made edible homemade bread, and I don't change their sheets every week. I don't play the piano and I have probably the worst singing voice on the planet so lullabies are out of the question once my boys are old enough to recognize real music. I fail to see the harm in letting them eat a pb&j for dinner once in awhile, if that's what they really want and my official household rulebook doesn't outlaw video games and YouTube. I have been known to let them go to bed without brushing their teeth, I don't read to them every day, and I don't think they need to win every time I play a game with them even when somebody reminds me that Noah is only three. I'm not sure that my mom realizes that the only time I dust is after she comes to visit and that's only because she points out that "wow, your house gets a lot of dust."

On the flip side of all that, I read some blogs that seem like daily Christmas letters - you know what I'm talking about - they go on and on about fantastic kids and perfect husbands and generally include some kind of a statement about how wonderful life is every single day. The pictures always include clean and smiling kids and there are stories about the latest and greatest seemingly impossible thing that the mom did for her family, ala MacGyver or Martha Stuart. I'm sure the women who write those blogs really are that blissful and their kids really are that perfect and that they've never once argued with their husbands. That's just not been my experience so I have a hard time relating and sometimes I go to bed feeling a bit ashamed about my comparatively pathetic efforts at wifedom and motherhood.

Today though, I am going to bed feeling ecstatic and a bit blissful myself (albeit tired). Both of my boys came through for me today.

Here's what Noah said to me tonight, out of the blue, when I was in my closet getting dressed before we all went to my sister's house for the evening:

"You my best fwend evah, mommy."

And here's a conversation that happened in the car on the way to my sister's house. I was "singing" along to a song on the radio in what I thought was an inaudible tone, because if you remember, I can't sing to save my life. I know it and I've come to terms with it.

Adam: Who's singing?
Phil: That's mommy. Doesn't she sound like an angel? (his voice dripping with sarcasm, followed by a hearty giggle that came out before the sentence was even complete)

Adam's response:
She sounds like an angel to me.

So, even though it's abundantly clear that I'm not supermom, today my boys managed to make me feel like I am. And they did it without any prompting or threats from me.

3 comments:

AprilC said...

I LOVE this post!!!

Michelle said...

That is the greatest post ever. I love it.
BTW- your memories were cracking me up. Made me think of a few "would you rather"'s...

Carrie said...

Hi Julie. It's a great day in blog world because today I stumbled upon your blog and Amy Horlacher's blog. It's fun to read about what's going on in your life. Thanks for letting Micah play at your house today. He had a blast!