There’s an online magazine called Imperfect Parent. Not surprisingly, they’ve been inundated with submissions and aren’t accepting anymore right now, so I can’t send them the 5,000 essays I could pound out in about an hour.
So I’ll share with you!
A few months ago I went to a Catholic homeschool group meeting. I hadn’t been in almost 2 years (because usually there were not interesting topics, didn’t want to drag all the kids when Aron was traveling, didn’t want to mess with a sitter). That night Aron was at CCD (like religion class for public school and homeschooled kids) preparing for First Communion. So I took the 3 Littles with me to the meeting.
I walked in (1) late with Eva in a sling eating a (2) Dum-Dum sucker. To placate the kids later, I put (3) 7-Up (could’ve been worse … could’ve been something caffeinated) in sippy cups for them. As I was wondering why I took a toddler to a meeting like that, she was (4) screeching and (5) moving chairs all over the place. Oh, and Callie (6) forgot her shoes.
Six parenting infractions. Now ask me if I care. Ask me if it mattered in the Grand Scheme of the Universe. Actually, I think it matters a lot to my kids that I let a lot of things go. We’re not structured, we eat sugar, we watch TV, we forget our shoes and socks sometimes (I once went barefoot to Aron’s cousin’s wedding because I was too busy making sure my 3 kids were dressed).
A couple of days later we went to a boys’ homeschool group Valentine soiree. Joel made 20 Valentines that said, “To a good cid like you.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him how to spell kid until afterwards. And I wasn’t one bit embarrassed that I’m a homeschooler and my 7 ½-year-old doesn’t know how to spell kid yet. I’m proud of him.
I LOVE hearing Imperfect Parent (or Imperfect Human Being, for that matter) stories. Please share!
