Running like a chicken w/ my head cut off!

Have you noticed many of my posts have been encouraging all of us to stop and smell the roses?...to purpose to make memories as opposed to getting jobs accomplished!

So why am I talking about it once again? I have several young women that I am mentoring and have found one common thread amongst each one. Pressure to be the perfect mom! My comments are not to discourage you from striving to do well but to rest in the position God has given you. :)

A good example was when I was a first time mom. I was convinced that my son would die if a French fry would touch his lips! So....I made his baby food from scratch, read every book out there to make sure I exposed him to the right stimulus to make him brilliant and develop at the right pace. The results? He did turn into a productive, fine man. Humm? Was it really all my coddling that made it happen? I think not. You see with each additional child that was added to our quiver, I was more stretched in my time and my resolve for all the perfect stimulus fell by the way side. French fries were introduced as an occasional treat and we didn't have classical music playing to make them brilliant. So did the rest of the kids make it? Well, a funny thing is they did! :)

So what is all my rambling about? I guess I want to encourage the young moms out there that kids are more resilient than any of us realize. Yes, feed your children healthier choices which is why I have recipe posts of healthy based foods. Yes, have great books available and good music playing for your family. However, don't let the peer pressure make you think you have failed if you don't cross all the 'ts' and dot all the 'i'.

To give the perfect example:
My first son was reading well at 4 years old and was ahead of the charts on everything. My second son comes along and he would sing the ABC's with my older son and seemed to be just as ahead. When I started home schooling him, I told him to write the letter "A" and he asked me what an "A" was! To my horror, I realized I had failed to keep the perfect mom status. So, what was the outcome of his life? He is a productive, fine, successful business man!:) Not reading at the age of 4 did him no harm.

Stop to smell the roses with your children. The memories you build with simple play will be more relaxing for you and your children will have fun as well.