shortcomings

please, mom, no pictures! the flash ... oh, the flash!

one day, i hope john will thank me for sticking my camera in his face and trying to document his cuteness. for some reason, the way he looked sitting in the backseat of the car with i got to daycare this morning just made me want to capture him ... unfortunately, 6:30 a.m. with no light and the bright bright flash on my iphone didn't cooperate.

the flash-free version, which is mirky but lets you see what i was going for:

juice in hand, 'cuz that's how i roll.

i think i have identified the one universal subject that moms seem to agree on: our own inadequacy. our own not-good-enough-ness when it comes to raising our children. no matter what we're really good at as mamas, we're painfully aware of the things we "fall short" on.

we loudly lament our shortfallings. we don't do enough of this, or we do too much of that. we're too concerned about one thing, but we neglect another. we give them not enough freedom, or we don't intervene as often as we should.

but we rarely celebrate our strenghts - gracious no, that would be bragging! what kind of mother brags about her skills?

but let's try it, moms. i want to hear what you're great at. i want to hear about your greatest victories with your children. if you just can't let yourself trumpet too loudly, tell me your innermost concern about your weaknesses, too. but let's focus for a moment on what we do that's great.

i could use the ego boost, couldn't you?

my strengths (which really should be OUR strengths, since i couldn't do any of this with john's dad):

• musicality (dancing, singing, drumming)
• language (reading, speaking, singing)
• letting him be his own dude and explore the world

and, my weaknesses:

• hands-on crafty stuff (drawing, painting, sculpting)
• structure (schedules and routines)
• cleanliness (come on, i bathe him ... but really only when he needs it)
• and many more.*

*(see? even there, i can't let myself imply i only have three weaknesses. only three strengths, fine. but suggest i only have three weakness? never. what's wrong with us moms!!!!!?????)