You Are Doing A Good Work

If I could raise my children all over again I’d … have a list a mile long in a heartbeat of time.

Motherhood is fraught with questions, regrets, failures, joys, successes and one of the questions we will plague ourselves with forever is “Am I – or Was I – a good mom?”

I am a mother of two young men now – ages 23 and 26. I recently asked them to send me their reflections of me as a mom. This can be a little nerve wracking so I don’t necessarily recommend it but the responses I got were very interesting.

They did not say anything about great vacations or the fact that they were the last one to get their cell phones. They didn’t mention the time I made a 10 p.m. run to Krispy Kreme for donuts for class treats or the time I forgot about open house and came skidding in to say hello with 10 minutes left to spare. They did not praise me for great birthday parties or fault me for missing things because I worked full time.

Everything they mentioned had to do with the influence I poured into them that made them who they are today. This brings joy and sadness all at the same time. Joy because for the most part I really like who my sons are. So I must have done some things really right. Sadness because I see gaps in their character that I wish I could go back and pour my influence into.

Hey all! I’m contributing over at The Christian Community News Magazine this month. Click here to read the three key values that will shape your parenting and shore up your confidence on the difficult days. Page 10.