No?
I must be a REALLY bad Mum then!
It's not that I spend a lot of time admiring myself for being such a great parent -- but I generally believe that I'm doing my best with DS. My parenting motto is "Do your best, and let God take care of the rest."
By my best, I do not mean perfection. I am not perfect, nor is DS! I mean that I watch over his health and development (in the broadest sense), keep up to date with health and other issues, and try to find out about new child-rearing techniques and ideas. The great thing about parenting is that it's a long-term process, so our lapses don't usually destroy our children in a moment. If something doesn't seeem to be working, I can think it over and change my approach. I have never gone to sleep in bad conscience over DS, and if I did realise that I had done something wrong, an apology would be one of the first things DS would hear the next day. My best is what I can manage with the information I have at the time.
By letting God take care of the rest, I mean all the things that I have no real control over. I cannot stop DS from trying injection, or from dying of leukaemia, or from becoming the next Pol Pot. I can and do pray that those things will not happen, but ultimately it's up to God, not me. As a result, I don't spend a lot of time worrying.
So, um, wanna tell us why you are such a bad mum? I find it hard to believe you are neglectful or abusive -- I doubt you'd be here if you were.
-- Chookie -- Sydney, Australia (Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)
"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is nothing worth being eager or vigorous about." Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.
