Perfect Parent

Does social media have you feeling like a mediocre parent?  You read about all of these wonderful things you "should" be doing with your child and aren't, or "follow" someone who appears to be the perfect parent.  But what I want to know is....What does the perfect parent look like??

Does the perfect parent work so their child can go to daycare and have other kids to play with, or

Does the perfect parent stay home with their child to be the one caring for them 24/7?

Does the perfect parent let their child sleep with them every night so they won't get scared, or

Does the perfect parent make their child sleep in their own room to learn independence?

Does the perfect parent use all natural products on their child's skin so they aren't exposed to chemicals, or

Does the perfect parent let the child use "regular" soap because their favorite character is on the bottle?

Does the perfect parent feed their child only nutritious food to teach them about healthy eating and get them on the right foot from the beginning, or

Does the perfect parent let their child have McDonald's when they ask, because it will make their day?

Does the perfect parent let their child go to public school to be with peers, or

Does the perfect parent homeschool their child to control their curriculum?

Hopefully you see my point here, which is that there isn't ONE type of perfect parent.  Recently, I spent an evening with 3 of my mommy friends and as I was reflecting on our conversations I realized that even though we all have some different opinions, I would still call each one of them a great parent!  In fact, ALL of my friends who are moms are great parents!  There are so many more things we can relate to than argue about and sharing our common "mom" stories is so much fun!  

Just because something doesn't work for me or in my home, it doesn't mean it can't work in someone else's home (remember: not my circus, not my monkeys).  Perfect parents are in nearly every home.  To me, the perfect parent is the one who:

* loves their child(ren) unconditionally

* would never harm their child or put their child in harm's way

* wants the best for their child (whatever "best" is to them)

I would also say that you are a successfully PERFECT parent if the following is true:

* your child(ren) loves you

* your child(ren) trusts you

* your child(ren) are comfortable with you

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that if your child(ren) were placed in a room with 10,000 sets of parents and given the freedom to choose a set to go home with....they would choose YOU ...and that makes you the PERFECT PARENT!  

The news has been horribly sad lately, lots of it involving young children dying.  Each time I read one of these tragic stories (which always seem to be about 3 year old girls, which hits way too close to home), all I can think about is loving my children.  In those moments, I no longer care about what society says I should be doing, or not doing, with my children.  I just want to be their momma and that's good enough for me.  I know in their eyes, I am the PERFECT mom, and theirs are the only opinions I care about. 

Here is another fun blog post to read about feeling comfortable with your parenting:

http://www.scarymommy.com/the-mom-i-judge/