Me: I’m a failure. We had pizza or chicken nuggets every night for dinner this week.
My children: Yay! We had pizza or chicken nuggets every night for dinner this week.
Me: I was so tired this morning I put on a movie for my kids and took a half-hour nap. It was such a nice day, but I kept them inside. I’m so selfish.
My children: We watched a movie this morning and mommy snuggled with us. She’s the best.
Me: I can’t believe I lost it on my kids today. I’m such a bad mom. I’m screwing them up.
My children: I love my mommy so much.
We moms are so hard on ourselves. We sit in our cars, bathrooms, or bedrooms with big tears in our eyes and feel the weight of our inadequacy.
But our kids don’t see the day how we do. They don’t care if we lose it, especially if we swallow our pride and apologize. They don’t care if we’re too busy to cook a gourmet organic dinner. They may even prefer the ordered pizza or toaster oven-cooked chicken nuggets.
Because the truth is, kids are usually far more forgiving of our faults than we are. But if we’re trying our best and love them, we’re enough.