Parenting. The good, the bad, and the ugly

This post is not related to Australia directly, but it's on my mind - Parenting.  It's hard.  I am always reading some parenting book that guarantees that I'll be a perfect mother and my kids will turn out to be superstars and rocket scientists.  Since I've been in Australia, I have spent a lot more time with my kids since I am not working. Brynn is with me all day and Jackson and Hollie are home much earlier than before.  You'd think that not working would make me much less stressed.  Not so.  Now, I have never been one to think that a mother should either stay home with her kids or that she should work.  It really depends on the individual, and we all have the right to make our own choices.  Side Note: It's amazing to me how judgemental women are on this topic.  Have you ever heard a man criticize another man for working too many hours, or not spending enough time at the school doing classroom activities?  I doubt it.

Anyway, my point in all of this is that this transition is hard for me.  I've been a bit snappy with the kids, especially in the morning when we need to be leaving and one of them (usually Hollie) is poking around, shoes not on, bags not ready, etc.  We are working on a responsibility system in the house now, but that is not where I'm going with this.  

So, I was thinking about work evaluations.  They are good for us - they point out what we do well, and what we could improve on.  And then I thought, parenting is an important job.  I should ask my kids for their thoughts on my parenting.  So, I gave Jackson and Hollie a sheet of paper that had 2 questions on it.  1) What does your mom do a good job at?  and 2) How could she improve?

Jackson's responses:

  1)  Overall, my mom is a very good parent.  She is very supportive and outgoing, not to mention incredibly good willed.  She does most of the household chores, sometimes all of them.  Poor mom : /

She has a very good personality and a great sense of humor, when she's in a good mood.  She does a very good job handling Hollie and Brynn.  Well, not always Brynn.  Also, she is very charitable and is more concerned for the well-being of others than her own.  2) Try to yell a little bit less and control her temper.  also in the morning try to be a little less grumpy.  I know that Hollie and Brynn make you crazy but it wouldn't hurt to just try to deal with it better.  I know you try, but try harder!  Also, when saying OOOONNNEEE,  TTWWWWOOOO, don't be afraid to see THREEEEEEEE!

He is so right!  I have to work on those things.

Hollie's responses:

1)Everything

2) She's amazing and I wouldn't like her any other way.

For such a little overachiever, I expected more.  I guess she was having an off kind of day.  But hey, I didn't yell at her for it!