I was talking to another mother I know recently at a birthday party for one of the girls classmates .  ”Steph, you are my role model for being a mother.”  I looked around, because surely there was another woman named Steph who is a much better parent than I am.  Seeing no one I laughed, because role model I am not.  ”No really”, she said.  ”Everyday my daughter comes home and tells me how you pick the girls up after lunch and what activities you have going on in the afternoon.  She wants me to be more like you, pick her up after lunch and do things together, and I agree with her all the time she’s right I should be spending more time with her.  So I am going part-time at work”.

I have to say – I enjoyed this compliment maybe slightly more than hearing someone comment on how well-behaved my girls are (because this is something I don’t witness often enough).  If there is anything I am insecure about it is whether I am doing a good job parenting.  I feel many times (as many of you do) that I am not doing a good job.  At the end of the day, I always wonder if I could have handled a situation better or if I contributed to one of the girls downward spiraling moods.  I vow to myself to be a better parent the next day.  Parenting has a steep learning curve.  Regardless of all the parenting books out there, it’s a learn as you go gig.  Use the skills you have, build on them, and try to raise well adjusted, polite, happy, and grateful children.  It isn’t easy.

So, I’ll take my compliment (thank you Amy) and I’ll recall it every time I feel like I am not living up to my potential as a parent – so that would be daily.