Saturday, March 20, 2010

Motherhood Panic

Did I kiss my kids enough today?
Tell them I love them?
Hold them when they ask?
Snuggle?
Play enough games? (any games?)
Read enough stories?
Smile enough?
Use a nice voice?
Sit with them at meals?
Listen to unintelligeable stories or dream recounts?
Laugh at all?
Say more compliments than commands?

Probably not. But I wonder if the answer to all of these questions will ever be "yes." I'm sure there's always more a parent can do. But, in my quest to grow and become a better parent, at least I was better than yesterday.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

We could all take a lesson from the Eskimos

You know how everyone always says that the Eskimos have so many words for snow? How many is it? Anyway, I guess that detail's not important, but it is an interesting fact that many cultures have numerous words for things they are constantly surrounded by. So that begs the question: How come we, as mothers, don't have a more expansive vocabulary to describe the subtleties of the following?:

*poop
*boogers
*crying (you know, to distinguish the fake ones from the urgent ones, tired ones, hungry ones, etc.)
*spit-up
*messes left on the high chair tray (more on this later)
*laundry stains
*whining
*heart breaks (those of you and your children)
*differing levels of naughtiness
*creative punishments
*the mysterious shmear that ends up on your clothes at the end of the day

But also
*kisses
*hugs
*happy squeals
*the "I love you's"
*their need for you...
*our need for them.

What else are we surrounded by?