Alright. It's Time To Come Clean...

Some days I think it's laughable that I am a mommy blogger.  I still cannot get my head around it. When it comes to parenting, I don't know what the hell I am doing. Sure, now that I am the mother of a near two-year-old, I can tell you what to expect the first six weeks, but when it comes to parenting a toddler, I don't have a damn clue what I am doing! I am not full of great tips, I am full of great lessons learned on what not to do! I feel like I need to put a disclaimer at the top of my blog that says, I have no clue what I am doing when it comes to parenting, so... proceed with caution.  

I just feel like such a fraud being a mommy blogger. Aren't they supposed to be full of great tips and recipes? My idea of cooking almost always involves a roll of aluminum foil and two dishes to clean at the most. So when Parenting.com named me a Top 10 Mommy Blogger of 2013, I kept asking, "Are you sure? Have you read my blog?!" I just still do not see how... 

From one post to the next, I am all about HOLY CRAP!  My Kid just did that? How? I spend more time amazed by what a my child is capable of.  And now that he can talk... HAHAHAHAHA!  I spend most of my days either laughing at him, or shaking my head at him.  It's a wonder that I have not bitten my tongue off from trying not to laugh at his ridiculousness. And for that matter, it's a wonder he has not laughed himself into a coma from me being his mother...

Mission Accomplished

While chatting on Twitter to a long time reader and friend, we came up with the first-time parenting mantra, "We can do this shit! Hard as hell, but we can do it!" That's the truth of it! Parenting is hard as shit, but somehow we, I, stumble through each day. I am a huge fan of the 'Do What You Gotta Do' method of parenting, and not obsessing on raising my child under a strict and structured household. In fact, here are a few atrocious things I let my son do this weekend that no doubt a true child-rearing professional would shake their head at...

1. Graze like cattle. I have a bowl of grapes in the refrigerator for my kid to eat whenever he wants, and when he asks for a snack, I give it to him. By dinner on Saturday he barely ate. Surely, that is bad, but I did it. No apologies.

2. Run into the living room and fly onto the couch. Sometimes I even chase him so he gets going really fast and takes a flying leap. He loves it, and so do I. Yes, in my house, sometimes the furniture is for jumping.

3. Rather than make my under two toddler sit in the shopping cart at Costco, I let him push that shit. 

4. Both breakfast and lunch were spent in front of Micky Mouse Club House this weekend, while FTD and I sorted through his toys for charity. That's right, I let the TV babysit my kid.

5. I cannot think of a number five right now, but I know there is one. I bet there are 20 things I did 'wrong,' but as far as I am concerned, they were right for me and my kid at the time.

Everyday I feed, clothe, bathe and love the shit out of my kid, and accept that everything in between is a constant circus of laughs, setting limits and learning lessons for both of us.  I am clueless and constantly second guessing my parenting.  I knowingly do stuff that I know is wrong, like the TV watching and the grazing, but dammit I have to chose my battles.

Bottom Line: If you are a less than perfect parent looking for affirmation, you have come to the right place. If you are just as scared and confused as I am and need to know you are not the only one, then you have come to the right place. If your kid is constantly testing the crap out of you, and you need to know your kid is not the only one, then you have come to the right place. Conversely, if you are looking for sound profession tips on parenting from someone who has their shit together and knows for sure what they are doing, then you most certainly have not come to the right place. I'm the other kind of mommy blogger.



Two confused parents=One amused baby Hopelessly we are trying raise a baby who is clearly smarter than both of us. April is an award-winning writer and blogger. Her work has been published in over ten countries and four languages. From books to newspapers, to print/online magazines and everything in between, you can find her work. For more on April, Visit AprilMcCormick.com