lower the bar

Shortly after my buddy was born, I stopped all the parenting magazines. I just couldn't take the pressure to be a perfect parent when my child would never measure up to their idea of perfection. Once in a while, I'll be in a waiting room and I will flip through one. I can't help but feel like they make parenting so much harder then it has to be.

'Turn your afternoon walk into a nature scavenger hunt!' For me, just surviving a walk outside with the kids feels like I should be awarded a gold medal. Let's lower the bar a bit. No food that looks like amazing works of art. More than one food group on the plate? You just won at parenting in my book.





If creating elaborate crafts makes you happy, then by all means craft away. I refuse to feel guilty shoving some broken crayons and scraps of paper at the kids and calling it a day. I say we should all ditch the Mommy Guilt.

Go out there and be the best you that you can at that moment. Maybe you are having a kick ass take no names kind of a day. Yay for you! Maybe it's more of a hide under the covers day. Own it. Give yourself a break.




I was starting to worry that I did not do a single thing with my buddy this break that will help him transition back to school. I will not fall down that rabbit hole. It was a break for us all. No guilt involved. We laughed and made memories. (and fine ... we played a lot of iPad games)




Please, join me in lowering the bar and getting real about this parenting stuff. It's not a competition. So open that closet that is a huge disaster. Grab a cup of tea (or a glass of wine) and watch the kids fall in love with every piece of junk in there. Entertainment with minimal effort!

Oh and for the love of peaches, don't dress your kids if you don't have to. Just let them throw a dress-up dress over their jammies and marvel at their creativity.