Not That Mom. (A non-education, mom blog this time!)

Today I took my eight-year-old daughter to a friend’s house for a playdate. There was only one small problem. The playdate wasn’t today.

The mother of my daughter’s friend, surprised at our appearance on her doorstep, quizzically said, “I’m so sorry - I thought we said Sunday?” Yup. We did. My bad.

Luckily, my little one forgave me pretty quickly (the stop at Target on the way home might have helped). We’ll try again tomorrow.

As I was scrolling through social media later this evening, I noticed some beautiful, professional-quality images of a Facebook friend’s baby. She posts similarly stunning pictures each month, marking her child’s major milestones.

In viewing these posts and reflecting on my own gaffe today, I realized something...

I will never be THAT mom.

I will never be the mom who takes those adorable first day of school photo shoots, complete with chalkboards noting ages, favorite things, and future career aspirations. I’m the mom who grabs her phone on the way out the door for a first day pic and begs them to smile and not hit each other.

I will never be the mom who bakes cookies for the neighborhood Christmas cookie exchange. (Store-bought isn’t allowed or else I’d be all over it.)

I will never be the mom who cuts her kids’ sandwiches into butterflies or smiley faces for school lunches...although I have been known to throw an “I love you” note in there now and then.

I’m not that mom.

If you are that mom, I am totally behind you! We just roll differently…

And today I realized that I’m at peace with the kind of mom I am.

I’m the kind of mom who shows up for playdates on the wrong day.

I’m the kind of mom who is scouring every Walmart, Target, and Staples the day before school looking for “book sox” from the required supply list because I waited too long and everyone’s sold out. (Thank God for Amazon…)

I’m the kind of mom who feels really good about taking her kids to church every week but really bad when she yells at them because we’re going to be late.

Yes, I’m the kind of mom that makes mistakes. Sometimes, I make a lot of them. But...

While I might not hold monthly photo shoots, I hold impromptu dance parties in my living room.

While I might not bake Christmas cookies, those pre-fab Gingerbread houses have worked out pretty well for us!

While I might not create sandwich art for school lunches, I eat together with my family every night.

I’m a crazy, imperfect, often disorganized mom who makes mistakes.

But I’m also a devoted, supportive, fierce, and fun mom whose heart holds so much love for her kids that it sometimes hurts. And at the end of the day, I think we're all that kind of mom.

So whether you are a mom who bakes homemade brownies from scratch for the school bake sale, or a mom who buys Chips Ahoy and calls it a day...you do you.

I’m gonna do me.

Just be sure that if you want my daughters to come over for a playdate to send me a calendar invite.

I'm also the kind of mom who lets her kids go wild with shaving cream.

#moms #badmoms #kids #parenting #momlife