Dear Self

Dear Self,

It seems like you have been really hard on yourself lately. You have questioned your sanity and your mothering skills a lot lately. So here are a few things for you to remember.

When you try a new breakfast casserole and it turns out awful you should be proud of yourself for trying something new for breakfast. When your husband pulls the cinnamon rolls out of the oven (after you ruined the casserole) and discovers you have cooked the icing with the cinnamon rolls you are not losing your mind. In the end everyone was happy because they got donuts on the way to church because of the breakfast disasters.

When Hunter comes home from school with a note in his binder that he acted wild during centers and talked a lot that day you are not a bad Mom. His teacher does not think you lack parenting skills, she thinks that he is six and he is learning boundaries for his behavior in school.

When a check is sent back home in Hunter's binder because you forgot to sign it you are not going crazy. You are a busy Mom trying to do ten things at once most days and you just skipped that blank. You are not the only one to do this and the people at the school don't think you are an idiot.

When Mia is just learning to write her letters and numbers and her friends are doing sight words, you have not failed in parenting. She is young for her age and you are giving her another year before Kindergarten. When she is 20 you will not look back and say I can't believe you were just learning to write when your friends were already reading!

When you come home from Wal-Mart and discover you have purchased daytime pull-ups instead of night time ones for Mia you are not losing your mind. You were in the store trying to keep Mia focused as she was mesmorized by all the Christmas toys, so you could get out of the store in an hour.

In the end you are not perfect and God does not expect you to be, if you were you wouldn't need Him. You have survived things in the past such as Hunter holding his poop, Mia refusing to sleep in her bed and so many other parenting joys. Take time to laugh, cherish the insane moments, and thank God for your family daily!