Three Don'ts For Moms - I Can Tell You From Experience!


by Shauna Haehl - Date: 2007-02-27 - Word Count: 464 Share This!

I'm no expert, but after raising four children think I am very qualified to give you three DON'TS when it comes to being a Mom.

Don't Dish Out Idle Threats… When my kids were little I took them with me on my monthly pilgrimage to Food-4-Less. Since we lived a distance from shopping centers, I usually spent a long time stocking up on things I couldn't get at our small town market. On one particular trip the kids were driving me nuts. I had a long shopping list of items that weren't making it into the cart because I was too busy trying to corral them. Couldn't they just fold their arms and quietly follow me around? By the time we got to the check-out line I was at my wits' end. Through clenched teeth I said, "Do you kids want to go out to the car?" I expected them to beg to stay with me and have another chance at being good, so I was completely caught off guard when they all excitedly shouted, "Yes!!" I stuck my nose up in the air and firmly announced, "Well, you can't!!" Things were never quite the same after that.

Don't be Quick to Offer Free Advice… Recently, my oldest daughter, called to chat and after several minutes she said, "So, Mom, what should I do????" She had opened the door a crack and I proceeded to blast it open with dynamite. I have years of experience and a great store of wisdom, so I knew exactly what she should do. Five minutes into my minute by minute procedure of what she should do, I began to notice silence at her end and an occasional "Okay, Mom. I will Mom." Haunted by the conversation, I called her back later that day to apologize for burying her under a load of suggestions. "That's okay, Mom… " Then there was a pause in which she was, I was sure, trying to think of something to say that would make me feel better such as, "…I'm interested in what you have to say." Instead, she said, "…I don't listen anyway."

Lastly, Don't Forget to Laugh… When my kids have their friends over to the house there is always a moment when one of them decides they need to "explain" Mom. On one occasion, prompted by complaints that the only bread in the house was whole wheat, my son explained to his friend, "The only way Mom would buy Wonder Bread is if she thought by doing so she could prevent others from eating it." It took me a second, then I had to laugh. That's funny. The truth is always funny. If you can learn by my mistakes you are well on the way to having your children patiently explain, "That's just Mom."


Related Tags: children, family, kids, discipline, laugh, laughter, motherhood, moms, raising children

See "Celebrating Motherhood" at http://www.celebratingmotherhood.com for helps in building strong mother and child bonds and attachment as well as other parenting tips and encouragement.

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