Passing it on

So tonight I made dinner for strangers. Correction....I made dinner for strangers with a 14 month old and newborn, our new neighbors. I may at times be in over my head, but I know I'm not the only mom out there who could use some help and support. I am so lucky to have amazing friends and family who have fed and taken such great care of us the last eight weeks. I went to a last minute playdate the other day where my friends not only fed us lunch but sent us home with dinner (yes like I said AMAZING friends). So with the idea that I am incredibly lucky to have so much support, I thought it would be the right thing to do to pass it on to someone who may not have friends to cook dinner for her.

It also reminds me to not judge others. I'm sure my friends at our playdate could have looked at me and thought that I wasn't doing a great job parenting. I can't even get my kid to sit and eat two bites of anything let alone the fresh fruit that the other kids were enjoying! But they don't judge. They are great moms who know what I wish all moms could grasp.....most moms are doing they best they can and that's good enough! (I say "most" moms because of course there are those moms who are off oding on drugs, but most moms are great moms). If you haven't read the book "I was a really good mom before I had kids" then you need to go out and get it! It's all about how you can look at a mom and judge her much easier before you are a mom yourself. I can totally attest to this and now I feel guilty about it. I can remember going out to dinner and scoffing at the kid watching a dvd while her parents ate dinner or staring at the kid screaming in the grocery store. Now I'm the mom trucking the dvd player out with us (how on earth would Alex & I get to eat without it?!) and my kid is usually the one screaming at the grocery store (hence why I go at 10pm after she's in bed!).I now try to never judge other parents. I know how I struggle sometimes and I know that most parents are doing the best they can for their children. No one is perfect and as long as you can go to bed knowing you did the best you could then that's good enough for me!

So I challenge you to do two things....pay it forward to another mom and don't judge! You could really make someone's day and hopefully they will do the same for the next person.




And one adorable picture just for the heck of it :)