Signs of a Good Mom

Signs of a Good Mom
I went walking with a mother of five children the other day and was surprised to see two bikes on the porch roof.  It seems that her 8 and 6 year old decided to cruise the neighborhood without telling their mom.  The bikes are staying on the porch roof for another few weeks, a daily reminder to them of how mean their mom is.  I love it!  Bikes on the porch roof are a sure sign of a good mom. Since that walk, I’ve been thinking about some of the other lesser-known signs of a good mom.  Here’s what I’ve come up with:

• Good Moms let their kids get messy.  If you show up at a friend’s house and their child has playdough in her hair and a grin on her face, then you’ve found a good mom.  Good moms hope that Crayola means it when they sell “washable” markers.
• Good moms let their kids splash in puddles and throw rocks into the river.
• Good moms let their kids ruin a few outfits.
• Good moms laugh at their kids’ jokes, even when they’re not funny.
• Good moms discipline their kids, even when the punishment is harder on the mom than on the child.  My friend is secretly wishing she could take those bikes off the roof and get the kids out of her hair.
• Good moms are willing to read “Go Dog Go” to their child twenty-six times a day.  They just hope their two-year-old doesn’t notice all the pages they skip.
• Good moms know it’s important for children to dress themselves, even if what they wear is embarrassing.
• Good moms say encouraging things like, “Wow, what a neat snake!” and “That is a beautiful bug; why don’t we find a home for him OUTside?”  Good moms proudly display all the rocks their children bring home, even when they secretly throw them out the back window a week later.
• Good moms think dandelions are beautiful.  Especially when their kids blow the seeds in someone else’s yard.
• Good moms believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy, even though they forget to email the tooth fairy five nights in a row.  They act surprised and excited when the tooth fairy leaves a note apologizing for the delay in picking up the tooth.
• Good moms make their kids say “I’m sorry” even though they know the child doesn’t really mean it.
• Good moms let their kids dress up like superheros.  Every day for a year.  Or two.
• Good moms can be found on the couch reading to their children while the dishes and the laundry and the mail piles up in the kitchen.
• Good moms develop amazing ways to keep important things out of the wrong hands.  In abook I read, a mom of ten kept donuts, potato chips and other goodies in the dryer and only once in a while ruined the clothes because of it.
• Good moms let their kids have a woobie.  Even if the child is a boy and his woobie is a pink pillowslip, they don’t sweat it.  Even when he shows up for the first day of Sunbeams and announces to his teacher, “My name is Michael and this is my pink woobie.”  Even when he brings it to preschool for show and tell.  Ten times.
• Good moms roll with the punches.  They laugh (eventually) at the mirror covered in toothpaste, the five gallons of water spilled on the floor, the Christmas presents unwrapped, the carrot cake turned upside down on the floor, the infamous syrup disaster, and the fingernail polish artwork on the wall.  They also cry sometimes.

I thought these were pretty funny as I can definitely relate to them. Especially, the one that says good moms let their kids dress themselves. Carter came out for church a couple of weeks ago in his red car slippers because they "were red like his shirt." I had a screaming child trying to get them off and finally decided if he really wanted to wear them he could. When we got to church I tried one more time saying, "we're at church now, time to put your church shoes on" and he said OK as happy as could be!! My lesson was learned!