Flawed Life

I got the idea to start a new feature on the blog about how in general we as parents do all the things the research (aka society) tells us not to do. By doing these things we show our flaws as a parent. Does that make us bad? Does it make us unfit? Everyday I demonstrate my lack of perfection by letting Lily watch TV while I prep dinner, cursing in front of her when I bang my pinky toe, or forgetting diapers on a trip to the store to be followed up by an explosive diarrhea episode. Everyday I justify it to make myself feel better. "It's only Sesame Street" and "She is too young to understand" and the best one "Everybody does it occassionally."Yes all these have happened to me, and yes Lily survived them all.

But then I started thinking. It is more than just being flawed as a parent but being flawed as a person. I am a full time mom, a full time wife, and a full time employee, a full time friend, a full time daughter, aunt, sister, cousin, etc. etc. With everything full time isn't everything really part time? How many times have I neglected Michael or a friend because these days I have to sacrifice day to day things to make my world go round? My new feature will focus on these issues. More importantly it will focus on the fact that it is okay that these things happen and we are not alone in forgetting to call our best friend on her birthday or realizing the only time we have to relax is the three minute shower we get each morning. Maybe if we all took a step back we would realize it doesn't make us unfit it makes us normal! So hopefully this will help me and you let go of some of the guilt we feel when we get irritated that we can't get through an episode of The Office without somebody needing something from us.

Hey it's Flawed, but it's life!