There are days when I feel all bring-home-the-bacon-fry-it-up-in-a-pan. Days when I make the transition smoothly from home to work and back again. Days when everybody gets hugs and kisses and eats all four food groups. Days when I pull a piece of ripe organic fruit out of my immaculate diaper bag just moments after the toddler asks politely for something to eat. (Days? Plural? I think that might have happened once.) But then, there are days. You know, days, as in Momma-said-there'd-be-days-like-this days.
I don't have to tell you about my days because they're trying in all the mundane ways - short tempers, lost socks, bad traffic that leads to a blood-sugar crash in the back seat. But those are the days when it feels like the world is watching, and judging. Those are the days when the Olympic parenting judges are picking finalists, and I most certainly won't be among them because my 2-year-old just lay down on the floor in Target, screaming. Bzzz! Thanks for playing.
My triumphs, on the other hand, all seem to take place in private. I don't have to describe these for you either because they are mundane, too: sweet and personal and as fleeting as a snuggle before bedtime or as long as a hot summer morning in the public pool.
Until one day, when I caught a friend's eye on the playground, a lucky day for me when nobody was screaming and there were indeed enough healthy snacks to go around. And I realized that a parent who's down on herself might not see anything but other people's triumphs, their bring-home-the-bacon-and-organic-fruit days. Forthwith, I made a resolution to recognize my own successes, banish the Olympic parenting judges, and stop comparing myself to others.
Yeah, right. But it was a tiny moment of revelation, when I caught a glimpse of myself through another's eyes.
Not much later, I met a woman who turned in her book manuscript a week after her second child was born (that's Andy Steiner, whose oh-so-true article about breastfeeding is in our Baby supplement). And I learned that one of Minnesota's most successful chefs packs wholesome, homemade sandwiches for his four kids to take to school (read about David Fhima and other parent-chefs on page 15).
It's enough to make you pull the covers up over your head in defeat. Only you can't because the baby wants breakfast. And those Olympic parenting judges are watching.
On the cover
Sylvia – Minnesota Parent & Proex 2005 Halloween Cover Contest winner.
Photo by: PROEX photographer, Adrienne Chaya
