Somewhere between 8pm when the kids have gone to sleep and 11pm when I am headed in the same direction, I tend to do an analysis of the day. I wonder how well I parented my children. I wonder if I paid any attention at all to my loving husband, or to our super-cool relationship. I wonder if I was kind to others that I came into contact with throughout the day. The list of things included in this analysis can even branch into how well I ate and what I fed my family. I take note of whether I exercised, wrote or took pictures (my favorite extra-curriculars). After this lengthy (and often guilt-ridden) analysis is over, I start to make commitments to myself about the following days and weeks. Generally, I promise myself that I will be more patient, loving and kind to my kids and husband and that I will focus on building them up, rather than tearing them down. The fact is, during my day, I am constantly in a hurry to do the next "important" thing. Often, in this attempt to accomplish more things than necessary, I fail to do what is really important(see italicized commitment above). It has come to my attention that I make this mistake almost daily. So today, I declare for all (well, all 4-5 of my readers) my commitments to myself and to this adorable family of mine:
1. I hope to be more patient.
2. I hope to be kind, in an attempt to build people up.
3. I WILL stop feeding my kids so many processed foods.
4. I hope to decrease obsessive cleaning/organizing in favor of quality time with my family.
5. I hope to read more.
6. I hope to learn more.
7. I hope to pick my battles.
8. I hope to bite my tongue.
9. I WILL SWALLOW MY PRIDE.
10. I hope to be a good friend.
This is a tall order, yet a very simple list. I'm not sure where I will start. Maybe I'll start by eating some (all) of those Girl Scout Cookies in the pantry so as not to taint my children with all of that processed poison. Hey, at least I have a place to begin when the analysis starts tonight.
You have much eating to do as I have 5 more boxes for you!:)
ReplyDeleteI strive everyday for less sarcasm but feel as though I might explode if it doesn't come out. Also, my students have come to expect and count on my sarcasm?!
What a GREAT list! I may have to steal that from you and post it on my fridge. I am also trying to eat all of the cookies in our house so I can stop eating them sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteKatie, I do this every night. It makes me so sad when I think of the various ways I was a BIG grouch and then the mommy guilt sneaks in. I try to remember though that even on my worst days, it is still not as bad as some other scary parenting I have seen (usually at Wal-Mart). You are not alone, girl!
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