Good-Enough Mother

While perusing the shelves at Dollar Tree with my kids a few months ago, I found a book by Rene Syler called "Good Enough Mother." She's a busy, working mom with 2 kids and I loved her personal stories and what she calls good enough mothering. Here are some highlights:

"You know you're a good-enough mother (GEM) when, like me, you have:
-bought something from the local grocery store, removed the plastic wrapping, and passed it off as your own at the school bake sale
-used a stapler to hem your daughter's pants as she's walking out the door to school
-realized that you haven't had a good night's sleep since the last baby was born because your mind is so busy with keeping your work and home life running smoothly, connecting with your kids' teachers, not missing the first day of gymnastics that you scheduled two months before, managing your husband's schedule- all the while trying desperately to remember and retain some of the person you were before all of these people came crashing into your life!"

"The entire premise of this book is about admitting that it's okay to be imperfect, to be good enough. In fact, you should be imperfect for your children, because you don't want them to grow up in a world where everything seems perfect. What kind of world is that?"

"When she was a little girl, I'd buy Casey [daughter] cute little outfits from Target, and then watch in dismay as she toddled over to the closet, ignored them, and pulled out what she wanted to wear. Like, duh! It finally dawned on me that my kids were people, not projects, and they had a right to their opinions, whether about the color of a shirt or the pattern on a pair of pants. It wasn't the end of the world if their tastes weren't mine and they preferred clash to cute. Besides, children are so powerless when it comes to most of the choices in their lives. They can't choose their school or their teachers or the food you cook for them or the size of their house. Heck, they can't even choose their parents. Allowing them to have the final say about their clothing choices empowers them and shows them that you have confidence in their decisions and trust them to make decent ones. It spares you the War of the Morning Dress and frees you up to concentrate on other, more important issues."

After reading this book, I went back to Dollar Tree to buy some more copies to give to some friends, but there were none left. This book is funny and honest, and I recommend it to any mom!