I Am a Good Mum

2nd May 2015

I’ll be honest: it regularly pops into my head that I am a crap mum. I think part of it is tiredness, part of it is low self-esteem, and part of it is just being a mother; it comes with the territory to think we aren’t doing a good job sometimes.

Mummy and Daughter

So I wanted to write down some things that make me a good mum; to remember that I am always good at the most important things, the things that keep my daughter safe, happy and help her be a good person.

  1. I love my daughter with my whole heart. I couldn’t love her anymore and she knows it.
  2. I tell her I love her every day. Numerous times.
  3. She has a home-cooked dinner almost every day and I care about what she eats; making sure she doesn’t eat too much rubbish too often. I want her to be healthy and to want to be healthy as she grows up. I try to feed her a good amount of fruit and vegetables, even if she won’t eat them.
  4. She is happy. She feels loved and cared for and that is because of us.
  5. She is polite; she nearly always says please and thank you and puts her hand over her mouth when she coughs. I am proud that at three years old she does these things. She does them because we have taught her to.
  6. She is caring. If another child is upset she gets very concerned and wants to look after them and make them better. Some of that is probably just her nature but perhaps she also gets some of that caringness from me.
  7. I am interested. When she wants to tell me all about her day and the words spill from her mouth in one big jumble, I stop and listen.
  8. I will always protect her no matter what.
  9. I have helped her learn to do many new things. I encourage her and I praise her when she has done something well or learnt to do something new, and tell her how proud of herself she should be.
  10. I spend time with her. We read together, play together and mess about together. We don’t do it as much as I’d like, but we still do it.

Of course I am not a perfect mother. I don’t think many of us are or that we could even agree on what a definition of that would be. Sometimes I mess up, let her watch too much TV, eat pizza twice in one week, shout at her, swear in front of her, don’t dress her in enough layers before we go out and let her wear those shoes that are slightly too small for slightly too long. The list could go on.

But where it counts, where it truly matters; I am a good mum. My daughter is happy, healthy, well-cared for, well-loved, polite and friendly. All of the little things that I do wrong, she doesn’t even notice most of the time. And the little things that I do automatically, like love and care for her; well, they are the bigs things to her.

I am a good mum.

And so are you.

 

Linking up with ‘Friday Free For All’.

27 responses to “I Am a Good Mum”

  1. Absolutely AdORE this! 🙂 x

  2. It sounds like you have the important things all covered which makes you a great mum. i do this too and have times where I feel like I’m a terrible mum but i think the fact we feel that way means we care which shows we are doing the right things. If we didn’t care then that would be the worrying thing 🙂 x

  3. Catherine says:

    This is lovely and the thing that your daughter will appreciate most is how much time you Have for her – that is gold 🙂

  4. Well said. We are all doing the best we can and I don’t think anyone could questions how much we love our kids. Jx

  5. Chloe says:

    I love this!
    i can so relate. we beat ourselves up way too much when we’re actually putting so much love into raising those little lives.
    my daughter knows i love her even if i’m having a bad mummy day.
    but all too often i need a little nudge from my own mum or other half to remind me that i’m actually doing a good job. 🙂

    CHLOE
    X

    • Thank you Chloe. Yes, we definitely need to be reminded that we are doing a good job sometimes don’t we? I bet if we were someone else we would think that they were doing a good job! x

  6. Louise says:

    I love this post – yes, you definitely are a good mum and thank you for sharing your list of the reasons why you are a good mum. I think most of us have times when we feel we are not doing a good enough job but things like letting our children know they are loved, being interested in what they do and say and knowing that they are happy means that we are doing just fine.

  7. This is so lovely and so true. I think that i am a bad mum every single day because of small things like not reading a book straight away or asking elsa to play on her own while i make the dinner. the fact is, like you said, she is healthy, happy and loved and that is all that really matters.

    • Oh I know, the sad look they give you when you say you can’t do something because you are cooking dinner or whatever is horrible! They are very good at making us feel guilty arent they?! You are definitely not a bad mum x

  8. Rebecca richards says:

    Love this, its’ so easy to fall in to the trap of constantly questioning your parenting, and it does wear off a bit as you feel more comfortable (I speak as a mum OF An 8 year old) but there is always something that will make you question it. I guess we know our kids and we love our kids and thats enough. THe rest we make up as we go along for whats right for you and your family 🙂

  9. Perfectly said. Yes we all feel that Mummy guilt but actually we are doing are a great job. I love this post and it is a lovely reminder of how much you love her xx

  10. I think every mum has the same thoughts at sometime, but it is important to do as you have done and remember everything we do do, lovely post #thelist

  11. This is such a lovely post! I think it comes with the territory that we always question whether we are good Mums or Not, but It’s probably only the good Mums who question themselves anyway. It sounds like your daughter couldn’t wish for a better mummy, and like you say, the most important thing is that she is loved and she knows it, and that she is safe and protected at all times. I also always question whether i’m a good mum and often doubt myself very much, but your post has opened my eyes to the fact that i’m doing ok. thank you! x

  12. A fab post! I think we are all guilty of thinking the same. reflecting, like you have in this post, does make you realise that you are doing a good job! 🙂 #the list.

  13. You are a great mum! I think it’s helpful to remember that we can’t do it all – so it’s important to pick your values and stick to them and not beat yourself up for the others (for example, I do cook our meals but I’m not great at crafts and I’m cool with that!) Great post xx Thanks for linking up to #TheList xx

  14. his is a lovely post. You sound like a pretty fab mummy if you ask me! We all have out doubts, but rest assured we all do our best and thats all we can do!! 🙂 #sharewithme x

  15. Thank you! I needed this eso today. I am a good mother and I know it but sometimes there are things that makes me think otherwise. #sharewithme

  16. The L's Mum says:

    Great post. I regularly think I am a rubbish mum, the thought must cross my mind sat least once a day. But you are so right there are so many things I probably do really well and get right 100% of the time, like loving and caring for my son etc. Great post and something al us mothers need to be reminded of from time to time. #sharewithme

  17. jenny says:

    This is lovely and great encouragement. I am always questioning my parenting skills and if I am really a good mom or not trying to juggle way too much and not stopping in the moment for my kids. This cheered me up. Thanks. Thank you so much for linking up to Share With Me. I hope to see you again tomorrow for another great round #sharewithme

  18. such a lovely post! It made me say a long ‘Ahhhh’ !! I’m not a mother myself, but I’m an aunt and I regularly see my niece and nephew and I regularly think I’m not a good aunt. But you are right the main things are that we love them and protect them as much as possible. Thank you for linking this beautiful post to #frifree4all

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

SUBSCRIBE TO POSTS




All rights reserved. Please do not take images or content from this site without written permission.