Only Human

This is my first post since deciding to take the focus off of my scrapbooking and focus on what I started this blog for in the first place; a place to share my inner thoughts, recipes, and the ins and outs of our daily lives. Trust me when I say I am pretty sure most of you who read this will agree with me.

I tend to get a little testy and defensive when I feel like I am constantly striving to live up to someone else's standards of what I should be. I never once said that I was perfect or am always chipper. In fact, the complete opposite is true. I am not the perfect Mom, or Wife, for that matter, but I strive to be the best I can. Life with 3 kids is HARD! Harder than I expected it would be. Don't get me wrong, I love my life and I wouldn't change it, even if I could. My son occasionally misses school for no reason, except he doesn't want to go. No big deal! So my kid doesn't have perfect attendance. So none of them behave perfectly when I think they should, especially in public. My kids are not in extracurricular activities. Not because I don't want them to be active and make friends outside of our neighborhood, or school, but because they've never asked. I don't want to force something upon them that they have never shown and interest in. I'm hard on my kids because I want the best for them and from them. What parent doesn't? I don't have the privilege of letting certain things slide because I don't have just one kid. I have 3! If I would let things go all the time I would be living in a nightmare.

So, my kids do not have perfect attendance. They misbehave. They are not perfect. I am not perfect. Why should I hold my children to higher expectations than I hold myself? I shouldn't. I don't.

I suppose all of my venting simple boils down to this. Don't pass judgement on someone if you know nothing about their lifestyle. Having one child is completely different than having two or more. Try to be a little more understanding about the stress someone else maybe feeling without adding the extra stress of making them feel guilty because they may not be looking forward to summer vacation, or Christmas break. It doesn't have anything to do with not loving your children. It has everything to do with listening to fighting and arguing more times than not.

Until next time. . .