Kill 'em with kindness!

Today for lunch we had leftover burritos, baby carrots and cucumbers (from the garden), and diced peaches. Although the menu was the same for all 4 of us, the plate prep was a bit different.

Nate: likes his burritos with meat, cheese and sour cream only. Since he doesn’t like fruit or vegetables, I only put one bite of each (1 cucumber slice, 1 carrot, and 1 piece of a peach) on his plate and he knows that 1 bite is all that is expected of him. Nate prefers milk with his meals.

Gabe: likes his burritos with meat and cheese only, but not rolled up. He’ll eat the inside first and then the tortilla after everything else is gone. He gets an extra large portion of peaches because he LOVES fruit of all kind, but only one carrot and one cucumber with no ranch because it’s too spicy. Gabe drank water.

Adri: eats meat and cheese, but with no tortilla. She’ll eat it with salsa, too, but only if she can spoon it on herself. She’ll eat the fruit, cucumbers and carrots, but dipped in sour cream instead of ranch. Adri likes ‘wemononade’ to drink.

Mommy: I try to avoid sugar of all kind (except on Sunday when we have dinner at my moms because that doesn’t count), so I prepared myself a taco salad and passed on the tortilla. I also passed on the fruit, but think I may have eaten an entire cucumber for myself :)

A few weeks back, someone made a comment about my blog…stating that it may be a little controversial. Although I completely disagreed and wanted to argue that the most controversial thing I’ve ever blogged about is that being a mom to 3 kids is exhausting! And who can argue with that, right? I decided I was going to take the route of least conflict, apologize and offer to be more sensitive in the future. There were some not so nice words that I was thinking, but the words of my great grandma (Grammie) came to mind. “Don’t be mean back…kill 'em with kindness.” My mom has said that, too...and I've used it a few times as well :)

This ‘friend’ suggested that I may ‘rubbing it in’ that I get to stay home with my kids and not all other moms who want to stay home, get to do what they want. Well, that may be true…or maybe not (another blog, another time).

My opinion, if you care (and I’m assuming you’re slightly interested, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this) is that a good mom is someone who does the best they can, whether they stay at home full time, work full time, or do anything else in between. A good mom isn't determined by the amount of time you spend with your kids. You know why I know the way my kids like their burritos? It’s not because I make their meals almost everyday…it’s because I love them and I’m doing the best I can.

So, I choose not to ‘sensor’ the material I post in my blog. If you choose not to read it…that’s fine. If no one reads it…that’s fine, too. I still walk away with what I think is most important about this blog…a documentation of the experiences I have as a mom to three awesome kids. Those experiences aren’t always glamorous and I don’t tend sugar coat them. Our time together is filled with laughter, smiles, a bit of sarcasm, some potty talk, choice words about how to use manners and take turns, why school and reading are important, why the word ‘NO’ usually still means the same thing after I’ve said it 50 times, how tired I can be after a night of little sleep because of a stiff neck and/or kid(s) with ear infections, and most importantly, how much they’re loved by Daddy, myself and by an AWESOME God that blesses us with time together everyday, whether it be 24 minutes or 24 hours.

Like it or not…that’s the best I can do!