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?
