You know the mommies who are super competitive but you’re not sure why.  The ones who think their little angels are all that.  The ones who have no identity outside of their childrens’ accomplishments.  The ones that believe they should have halos surrounding their heads because they seem to keep it all together while the rest of us are just fumbling idiots!  The ones who are SOOOOO busy with their two children because they’re so important, yet I have two children and seem to find the time.  The ones that like to point out that their lives have so much meaning because they have a full calendar while the rest of us are nothing.  I have a couple of those in my world and it drives me insane! 

 Every now and then it just rubs me the wrong way.  I don’t know why I’m so sensitive to it.  I do believe that each child is an individual and that children go through cycles of success.  Sometimes my boys achieve in areas and sometimes they don’t.  I do know at the end of the day, when they go out into the world, when all my parenting comes to a halt, my boys will be kind, caring, successful, goal-oriented, productive men. 

I shake my head at these moms who believe their children will be great based on their Little League accomplishments at 6 years old.  These are the same moms who indulge their children in $300 bats because for some reason they think this message of expensive bats = important children is meaningful.  These are the same moms who have taught their children that expensive clothes make them important, as well as having all the current tech equipment.  I cringe when I hear the stories.  I cringe when I think that parents project their own insecurities onto their kids.  I know we all create little mini me’s, but some people need to learn what character traits to avoid bringing forward.  In this day and age of financial unrest, this should be a crime.  Seriously!

Don’t get me wrong.  I think it’s great to be able to provide for your children if you can.  It’s great, as long as you don’t attach unrealistic labels to the physical possessions.  It’s just funny that the people who can’t afford it are most often the people who do.  In other words, some people buy their children the latest and greatest yet they’re having financial problems and haven’t taken a vacation in years.  Good thing they have that $300 bat and that $700 laptop!  I really hope my boys grow up being proud of who they are rather than what they’ve had.  I think we’ve all learned during this recession that sometimes the people who appear to have the most, really truly have the least.  I think the Universe has created a time for parents to teach their children what’s important in life - and it’s not money!

I’m sure I commit my fair share of parenting faux paus, but I will not raise children who think I have therefore I am.  What’s going to happen to their egos when they don’t have for whatever reason?  I try to teach my children that we’re lucky to have what we have.  We’re lucky that I get to stay home with them and that is really the greatest gift my husband and I could ever give to them.  They know my husband has to work hard to provide for them in this manner and sometimes it requires my husband to travel and be away from us.  It forces us to appreciate all the time we have together because we get a flavor of what it’s like to be without a family member.  My boys don’t care if their clothes have designer labels or Wal-Mart labels.  They typically don’t want to eat in restaurants and would much rather sit down at our kitchen table and screw around with us while they’re eating.  Going on a bike ride or going to the beach is just as much fun as Disneyland.  I really do believe that it’s our social responsibility to teach our children right from wrong.

Thanks for letting me vent!  I needed to share!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 12:31 pm and is filed under My Thoughts, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.