another MOPS email

This is a such a good commentary on how to be a good mom. If there is anything I hope to take away from the early years of motherhood, it is that I tried to be the best mom I could possibly be. The idea that in my trying my kids will love each other wholeheartedly when they are all grown up makes these early years all the more rich!

We Do the Best We Can, By Rachel Ryan Oliver

I had a recent phone conversation with my baby brother (who is no longer a baby as he nears 25). Although he’s not yet a parent, I told him I thought of him as I read a recent MomSense magazine article. It talked about potty training, and I was reminded of how long it took for him to make it through the night without a pull-up (just what a grown man wants to talk about, right!?!). 

As we laughed about it he reminded me of my mom’s varied attempts to help him – including a device she borrowed from a friend that he would wear at night. As soon as it became wet it would send out a slight shock to wake him up and remind him to go to the bathroom. The device didn’t last very long in our house. It didn’t work and I don’t think Mom liked the idea of it anyway. She tried practically everything to help him, and yet the one thing that finally worked was just letting him grow out of it.

As moms, we search high and low to help our kids succeed. And that’s how it should be. But our efforts don’t always work. We do the best we can, and that’s most certainly what our children need. Nothing more, nothing less. I’m sure in 20 years my kids will laugh at some of the things I will have tried in my own parenting adventures. But I trust we’ll all be okay … and maybe, just maybe, it will make for some humorous phone calls between the siblings.
 
Dear God, give me the wisdom to know how to help my children. And also the peace to know that when my best runs short, I can trust You to fill in the gaps.