Dear Mom At The...

Dear mom at the...wait. Stop!

 We've all seen them, and most of us are guilty of clicking on and reading them. You know those blog posts that we hope will make us feel better about whatever decisions we have made. Here's the thing, we should be happy because we are happy, not because some stranger has justified our choices. I don't care if you are the mom at the park on her phone, the mom at the park pushing her kid on the swing, the mom at the park socializing with other moms, the mom that isn't at the park because she is at work and the nanny is with her kids at the park, or any other type of mom at or not at the park.

 NONE OF THAT MATTERS!

 Here's what does matter:

• Do you see smiles on your kids' faces when they are at the park? You know that they are enjoying their time at the park. Do they love it when you push them on the swing or watch them go down the slide? Absolutely they do! But do you know what they enjoy even more? The fact that they are able to go to the park to play! I promise you that they will not look back on their childhood and say that they didn't have fun at the park because their mom didn't x, y, or z. Rather, they will look back and say that their mom is awesome because she took them to the park or arranged someone else to take them to the park while she was at work. 

·         Does seeing your kids enjoying themselves bring a smile to your face? When you catch them at the bottom of the slide, does it make you smile? When you look up from your phone or book or glance away from the conversation with friends, does it make you smile watching your kids? When the nanny sends you a video of your child going across the monkey bars, do you smile because you know the courage it took for them to do it? I bet you answered yes to at least one of these questions. If you did, then take joy in knowing that your kids have found joy in being at the park and take pride in knowing that you have made time for them to go to the park and just be kids.

·         Do your kids ask to go back to the park? If they ask to go back, then you must be doing something right? If you being there beside them as they go down the slide is ruining their fun at the park, then they wouldn’t ask to go back. I’m willing to bet that if you or the nanny tells your kids to get ready to go the park that they never complain. Rather I bet that they get excited and rush off to put on their shoes because they are excited to go to the park.

It really is that simple. None of us need the endorsement from a stranger (although it can feel good) that it is okay for us to be right beside our kids, sitting on the bench while our kids play, or at work while the nanny takes the kids to the park. The only things that we need to know are these three simple things: our kids are smiling, we are smiling, and our kids want to go back. There you have it mom…YOU ARE AWESOME, AND YOU ARE DOING IT RIGHT! But you didn’t need me to tell you that did you?