Un-Parenting 101

So there's a crazy rumor going around that says that children do not come with an instruction manual when they're born, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news - but it's totally true!  When the baby comes bouncing out of the womb, unfortunately there's no book attached!  The baby is lovingly attached to your heart, and when babies are born you snuggle and coddle them close, but eventually they begin to learn independence - then that attachment that they have with you slowly begins to rip your heart right out of your chest and with every step they take, they get farther and farther away, breaking you down to where you are feeling like a worthless parent. With that being said WELCOME TO MOTHERHOOD!!!!  We're all crazy here!  Here's another sad truth - as parents, we have absolutely no stinking idea of what in the world we're doing when it comes to raising kids.  There you have it, we're all clueless.

In a world filled with germ-a-phobe moms who want their children to be overachievers and goal oriented, be better than everyone else's child, "don't touch that you don't know where it's been", "don't eat that - it's so unhealthy",  "I don't let little Johnny do that because it'll paint me as a bad parent..... !" Blah blah blah!!!  Wake up moms.   It's not about you OR your precious self image to be the best mom on the planet - who cares what adults are watching you, the more important thing is that your kids are watching you and THEY are ones who need to know they're loved. 

At the ripe young ages of 9 & 11, I am just ecstatic that my two boys are still alive!  With that being said, I must be doing something right, not from a manual of course, but to me it seems  right.   I know that the things I 'allow' my children to do aren't necessarily healthy for them either.   My kids eat corn-dogs, cheese puffs, chocolate and ice cream, watch way too much TV, see TV shows and movies with a few choice words, they talk back, are inconsiderate and ungrateful, their room is an abyss where stuff goes in but doesn't come out, and the list goes on..... Yea, I know (Shhhish!  keep your comments to yourself! You let yours get away with it too!).   

I grew up just knowing that my parents screwed me all up!! (To a degree they did......But shoot, they didn't know what the hell they we're doing either.... as previously mentioned 'babies don't come with instruction manuals.'   I believe that we create destruction manuals with our own children and we pass that manual down to our own children and their children's children.  We have to stop living through our children and let our children be children.  Life is not meant to be a stressful bore.  We've been given a beautiful and abundant life.  Let your children experience that same life.  Who cares if they pick up some Cheetos from the floor and eat it - they need some germs to build up antibodies in their immune systems. 

Point being - none of us know what we're doing, but by-golly, we're doing the best we can do!  Keep on rockin and being the best parent you can be for your kids!  Don't be the victim of your parents mishaps - you too shall have mishaps with your own babies!  Hopefully they'll learn from your mishaps and not pass them on to their children.