Don’t tell the ‘parent police’ but I let my son have chocolate buttons on toast for breakfast on his birthday. I joked with a friend that I had been a ‘bad mummy’, but actually when I thought a little more about it I decided I had probably been the opposite: a good mummy.
As parents we spend hours racked with guilt and analysing if our children are eating properly, have they had their five a day, are they learning appropriate social skills, is their educational development on track, are they being active enough, have they brushed their teeth properly, are they having enough creative opportunities, should they be learning a musical instrument or a second language…..and so the list goes on.
This is only heightened by the constant barrage of pressure and calls to action from the media, the government, relatives and worst of all other parents. I am not suggesting that as a parent we do not take our responsibilities seriously, but that we also allow for fun and treats. These special treats and occasions are ones which both you and your child remember, and build strong bonds within a family. Children learn from their parents, and I want mine to learn that although I wear the ‘responsible hat’ I can also ignore the ‘rules’ and throw some caution to the wind occasionally.
Other recent ‘good mummy’ moments in our house have included me staying in bed till 10am (I was actually working on my laptop) whilst children were watching TV downstairs, and allowing my youngest son to dig a hole, make a mud pit and sit in it for an hour like a hippo!
Have you got a ‘good mummy’ story to share? Please do – I need some more ideas for the next time I decide to be an irresponsible parent but a good mummy!
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Good Mummy, Bad Parent?
Hooray for good mummies!! Yesterday my 3 had nothing but chocolate spread pancakes for lunch, followed by chocolate custard!
I had a whole day of good mummy stuff a few weeks ago too – spent the whole day doing all the things I ’shouldn’t’ do!! read about it here…
http://purple-path-coaching.blogspot.com/2009/06/i-cant-be-bothered-is-it-ok-to-say-that.html
Thank goodness I’m not alone!!
Chocolate buttons are a treat in our house too
Deprive your kids too much of things they love and they’ll just want them all the time anyway.
We all deserve treats now and again, even kids.
Catrin x
OMG! This rings so true with me! Am constantly obsessing about whether kids have eaten enough fruit & veg, got plenty of exercise, watched too much television etc…
I’ve not quite channeled my “good mummy” properly yet! Kids had sausage, chips & beans for lunch, followed by freshly made raspberry frozen yoghurt (need their fruit!). Spent 1½ hours this morning watching TV so I could work, so none this afternoon. The sun is now shining – they’re indoors, but have this constant nagging voice telling me to send them out.
After reading this, will definitely be attempting to throw caution to the wind and be a “good mummy” more often, a bit more whole heartedly than at present.
I end up accidentally being a “good mummy” whenever my in-laws are over, by casually looking the other way while grandma feeds my kids a load of cupcakes just minutes before dinner.
One of the “good mummy” moments I love most is giving my 2 year old daughter free rein to actually act like a 2 year old. Much of the time I have to be so rigid about how long it takes to get places since her little brother is usually yelling for his lunch or his nap.. so once a week I leave him with a friend and take her out on her own to wherever she fancies going. She wanders around, inspects each and every bug, stick and flower, pockets a few stones, practices her kicks and pirouettes, walks sideways, whatever. No rush, no rules, just hanging out being 2.
Makes us both feel great & I wish we could do it every day!
Okay I’m pretending to be a mummy
I let my 9yr old stay up until 23:15 on a school night playing Scrabble with my wife and I. We had a great time and he learnt how to cheat at Scrabble, make up words, use a dictionary, and tease his parents (who both lost) and generally had a great evening with his Mum and Dad all laughing our heads off.
Nice blog
My favourite Good Mummy moment by my Mummy to me and my Sister was when she would let us stay at home during the school holidays when she was at work at the little corner shop until lunchtime, she was sneaky though as I also remember doing a lot of cleaning when she wasn’t there!
The thing I do most often for Top Ender is let Daddy sneak her some treats into her room for a midnight feast… she still hasn’t worked out that I make them all though!
Great site…keep up the good work.