Mother of the Year?

Earlier this winter (Nov. 2012)

I hear the saying “I am not trying to win the Mother of the year award.” I don’t really want to win an award, I would just be satisfied sometimes with a pat on the back. There are so many decisions to be made. I would love for someone to just tell me “This is the right one. Do this one. If you do, your kids will love you forever.”

What about the child who hates to change his clothes? He doesn’t want to wear pajamas and you find him putting on the same clothes after his shower. Never mind that they can stand on their own, those are his favorites!!

Then you have the child who thinks that anything green is going to cause him harm. You start to avoid putting them in food because you want him to eat, and then find yourself feeling stubborn because you miss your vegetables!!

There are the harder things like whether or not your child is behind in school and what reason is he behind? What is the right choice for your child? If you are a die-hard home educator, what type are you going to pursue? Un-schooling? School at home? A Mixture? Charlotte Mason? When your child grows up and says words that hurt you about your choices, will he realize the agony you put into in choosing what you thought was best for him/her?

What about the health care choices? Dental care seems like a no brainer….but then we have to decide – Fluoride treatments or none? Sealants or none?
We go to the doctors visits and try to decide if I should go to well child visits or not? Should I get a vaccine or not? Am I endangering my child’s life if refuse or might I be endangering his life if I get them?

I lay awake staring at the ceiling and find that with all the choices swirling in my brain. The choices are endless, the opinions are endless and it seems that everywhere I turn there is always a list of ways you can and will mess up.
I look to my heavenly Father above and ask Him help me as I parent these children, which He gave me. I ask Him to give me wisdom to make the choices I face each day. But most of all I ask Him to give the children the strength to forgive me for the errors I know I will make.

Raking in November 2012

I may not deserve a Mother of the year award, and I highly doubt I will win a most patient mother star. But I really hope that when it is done, my children will grant me grace to know that I did what I thought was best for them, in my feeble attempts just to be their mom.