-
-
-
My Favorite Charities
MommyBlog Reviews (& Giveaways!)Joining: A Chance to Lead
. 
. 
. 
Link Love
. 
. 
. 
Supernanny I Am Not
I took a break from writing last night to watch some mindless television. The only thing that was on was Supernanny (I like to pretend when I watch Supernanny I’m really learning something and not wasting my time watching mindless television. I’m living the dream.)
The woman had three rambunctious little ones that she distracted rather than disciplined, and it seemed she spent most of her time cleaning the house rather than taking care of the kids. Supernanny told her she was a lazy parent, because she spent too much time cleaning and not enough time taking care of the kids.
Really, Supernanny’s main problem was not supervising and interacting with her kids throughout the day.
I had a moment.
If Supernanny came to my house she’d probably say the same thing! I spend much of my time during the day writing. Blog entries, writing projects, more blog entries, online networking site stuff, and offline networking phone calls.
Do I think I’m a lazy parent?
Hell, no.
I think I’m teaching by example. I take a break every hour to spend some time with the kids (and make sure they’re fed and watered) and throughout the day the kids come in here and they’ll sit in the other chair in my office (Randy’s chair) and we’ll have a conversation or they’ll bring a book in and read, or they’ll do something else.
These are small interactions, yes. I’m not sitting on the floor and doing crafts, but I think that’s okay. I never thought I would be the mommy that finger painted with the kids on the floor or on the easel. (Besides, we had an easel and the kids didn’t want to draw on it…they disassembled it completely in ten minutes! That’s what I get for getting one that’s held together with screws, I guess.) I’ll never be president of the PTA or leader of the Girl Scouts.
But I care, and I tell them I care, and when they bring things in they’ve done (big Lego trophies and whatnot) I praise them and play with them.
Maybe as mothers we always feel we could be doing more. Would it be better if I had the kids in daycare so strangers could interact with them instead of the partial interaction I provide?
Or is it just bad that I think of this as a logic problem and don’t really feel a strong sense of emotion one way or the other?
