Bad Mummy

I've been checking out a few blogs lately, just cruising around & having a read and some of the blogs have been mummy blogs, chatting about the whole experience. They are beautifully written, lots of funny moments etc, but damn, these guys seem to go a bit overboard with the whole baby thing.

I adore my daughter, she's the most important thing in the world to me. Don't get me wrong, she's also the only person in the world who can get me from calm, cool and collected to raging homicidal maniac in 3 seconds flat. But I still love her heaps, I even like her sometimes! I work with government engineers and even they don't get me as angry as she can, and they can be seriously frustrating and child-like, trust me.

But I never went around the house bubble wrapping the pot belly stove, buying cooking utensils for the sole use of cooking the organic baby food to avoid contamination (contamination from what? The child's mother" The one who's finger [an extremely dirty appendage] the child sucks?) or counting the hours that I spend conversing one on one with her to ensure that her language and social skills are developing properly and enrolling her in all sorts of classes/groups to create a social network for her. Before she can speak.

When I first starting reading some of these I started feeling a bit of a failure. Bad mummy. I actually enjoyed having time away from my baby. I STILL enjoy having time away from her and it's not like I have to spoon feed her anymore. It helps me appreciate those special times we do have together. And I'm a firm believer in rolling all small children in dirt to build up their immune system. If they kiss the dog I'm more likely to wash the dog's mouth out to stop the child making the dog sick. Actually, I have told the Monster on occasions that the dog treats me better than she does. And it's true!

I don't know why, but this thing bothers me. All I can think of is a bunch of controlled little grown ups, with no immune system or common sense or real life experiences. Maybe I'm just projecting because I still feel guilty. I'd say so. I'd have to say that'd be the overriding emotion mothers experience. The guilt of not getting it right.

I still prefer the way I've raised mine, I'm not scared or nervous about how she'll handle life. She lives it everyday, the pretty bits and the ugly ones. With a mother like me she gets plenty of the ugly bits to balance out the pretty.

See, I am a good mummy, I provide a life balance!

I can justify just about anything, must be the public servant in me.