Confessions

Okay, I confess.

I am not perfect.

I know, it is hard to believe. I know you all think (regardless of the sock issue) that I am a perfect mother. I know you're all wondering how such a young mother could be so absolutely perfect - and besides that, a perfect wife, daughter, friend, sister...

Maybe not. But I'm going to come out and say it: I am not perfect.

Guess what? No mother is. No mother is going to be. No mother ever has been. And you know what? Instead of stressing out over that fact, it comforts me. If I make a mistake, I am pretty sure I'm not the first one to ever make that mistake. Learn and move on, right?

Another confession is that I am a really laid back type of mother. I don't know if you read that one post about letting Ben crawl at the church building, but I am clearly not the kind of mommy who freaks out about icky germs. I also don't give into all sorts of hype about things like walkers being unsafe because I believe anything can be unsafe without the proper supervision. We don't own a walker, no. But Benjamin does sit in one during Bible class, and you would never be able to tell but he actually moves around in it (a lot - sometimes I wish I could pop those wheels off so he'd stay still) - and would you believe that he's not developing crooked legs or oddly shaped torso or ... whatever it is those folks are freaking out about?

I'm not saying every mother has to be like me! I really am not! This is just my parenting style. You know everyone loves to give advice and stuff? And sometimes it makes us feel bad about the way we do things? Well please don't take this like that at all. I am just saying what we're like over here in our pond (it has been RAINING ALL DAY!).

Anyway ... another thing:


From September

Benjamin eats hot dogs on occasion. He also eats animal crackers. He's had an M&M or two. He's had bits of a cookie. He drinks juice. He's also not overweight, won't take formula if it's the last thing on earth, super healthy (except that one time when he got sick a couple weeks ago - and then back in April), extremely happy, excessively active, heartbreakingly adorable... you know, all that good stuff. And I do get it - healthy habits start early. But I also believe a lot of our unhealthy habits stem from portion control and moderation. Ben will maybe eat a hot dog every other week, if even that. I'm pretty sure I had hot dogs when I was a toddler, and so far, so good.

I guess I'm just not an up-tight mommy. I let Benjamin cry it out when he was 3 months old. He screamed for 45 minutes one night and after that he has gone down really, really well ever since. I think a lot of us mommies stress out over stuff that is just so trivial. If we could all just take a breath, and maybe loosen up (not toooo much!), we can enjoy our time with our children a little better.

Oh yeah, and Benjamin watches Winnie the Pooh nearly every morning while he eats breakfast, and sometimes watches Blues Clues or Pokoyo. I don't have an X-Ray or anything but I'm pretty sure his brain is not turning to mush.

Again, though, this is just the way we do it around here. No offense meant to anyone who does it differently. Just something that is on my mind tonight!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend! If you're like me - your feet are freezing but your heart is warm!