Keeping It Real

One of my favorite mommy blogs right now is Kelly's Korner.  Her post today was about how imperfect she feels as a mom of two young toddlers.  She talked about how her house is never clean, her laundry is always piled up, and her meals are not always gourmet or home cooked.  I can so relate to how she feels.  Sometimes I feel like my blog does not show what my life is really like.  Being at home with three little ones is tough.  There are days when I want to hide in the closet and cry. 

When I started this blog, I made a decision that it would not be a place to air our family's dirty laundry.  I use it as a scrapbook for my kids so that they can have a place to look back and read about special and important events in their lives.  I try to keep things very positive on my blog, which can sometimes give the impression that things are always perfect at the Brown house.  After reading Kelly's post today, I decided that I want my kids to know about some of the not-so-perfect things that happen in our house.   I am going to title these posts "Keeping it Real".  I hope that when my kids are grown and raising families of their own, they can look back on these posts and know that I went through some of the same things that they will face with their own kids.  So here goes...

- I would love to make healthy, three course meals every night of  the week, but I don't because a) my kids are picky eaters and b) my kids are picky eaters.  So... tacos and spaghetti and chicken nuggets are staples at our house.  And not the homemade chicken nuggets.  The frozen ones that you heat in the microwave. (*gasp*)    I see pictures on other moms blogs of plates with carrots, celery and broccoli and I think "yeah right...maybe when pigs fly!".  I always try to put a piece of fruit on my kids plates but there are many days that it goes down the drain too.  At least I'm trying, right?

-We went to Central Market yesterday and let each kid pick out one treat from the candy bulk bins.  Parker ate his before we could even get to the front of the store to pay for it.  The worst part... this was before dinner.  Yes, he ate candy before dinner which probably spoiled his appetite.  Oops!

-I am very good about washing the laundry but I HATE to fold it and put it away.  There are many days that the kids clothes come straight out of the dryer or a pile.

-Today I finally got around to folding some of the laundry that had been in the dryer for at least three days.  The kids "helped" me by unfolding everything that I had just folded.  After a few times of refolding the same thing, I completely lost it and told all three kids that the next person that even touched a piece of clothing was going to time-out.  I definitely missed out on a laundry folding teaching moment there!

I hope that these confessions are encouraging to those of you out there who are also in the trenches with your little ones.  Life with toddlers is wonderful, but it is exhausting, messy, stinky, and, by far, the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.  I am not perfect, but I am trying my hardest to show my kids that I love them and there is nothing else I'd rather be doing than spending my days with them.  Even if that means cleaning up a trail of chocolate (yes, chocolate and definitely NOT organic) milk in the hallway for the fourth time this week!