Scale of Motherhood

I was talking to a friend the other day about how we need to do our very best at all times.  As long as we do our very best we will never have any feelings of failing.I have often told my children that I will accept any grade or score that they get in school as long as they can truthfully say they did their VERY best.  This accomplishes a few things, first of all they have to learn to be honest with themselves, cuz if you aren't honest with yourself, you can't be honest with anyone.  Then they have to be honest with me.  That means they have to take responsibility for their own actions and not blame the score/grade on the "unfairness of the teacher" as so many of the other students are quick to claim.  There are a few things that I WILL NOT accept and that is an F or a 0 on an assignment, because this shows that they most certainly DID NOT do their very best.

If you put this into perspective as a mother, ask yourself :

"How do I measure up as a mother?" 

I try to reach for the "Mother Teresa" scale of motherhood but I sometimes feel that I fall in the "Marge Simpson" category.  (Now I don't watch the Simpson's, but I have heard stories, and I tell you what, Marge is NOT one to look up to!)

I find that if I do fall short of being an ideal mamma that particular day I just have to ask forgiveness from Heavenly Father and try harder the next day.  A great day is constituted when I only yell 6-8 times, the kids are dressed, have eaten good meals and not just cold cereal for three meals that day, the dog is not dead, and the water is not running down the street in the gutters.

I have often told my family that when I die I DO NOT want to hear the words "I never heard my mamma yell, not ever!"  You KNOW that when you hear these words spoken at a funeral the person speaking is LIEING!!  If that mamma was any sort of mamma at all SHE YELLED at least once, after all, her kids were not only 2 years old, but they also went through the teen years!

I want my family to say that I was a great mamma who taught them to love and serve others.  That I was stern, but they always knew I loved them.  That I taught them the value of work, even if it meant pulling weeds or scrubbing floors for hours on end.  That I taught them the importance of taking responsibility for their own choices and that facing the consequences are difficult at times.

No, I'm not a "Mother Teresa" mamma, but I do try my very best at it.  I may not have the most perfect children in the world, but they are happy and they know that I love them to pieces.  I know that as long as I don't give up on doing my very best, I will make it through this experience we call life and that my children will grow up to be well adjusted adults that can contribute to society in a positive way.

I just hope that if I fall short of the "perfect mother" mark that I can make it into heaven with an incredible apple pie used as bribery!