Life's more than sugar content

I had an eye opening mommy experience on Friday. The kids and I walked up to the convenience store on the corner to get some rubbing alcohol (for the sofa catastrophe). I decided they could have a treat. Oliver went for the safe plain M & M's like we always do. For some reason I felt like comparing the sugar content between plain M&M's and Fun Dip. Believe it or not they were fairly comparable (I say fairly, because there was math involved. M&Ms are 1 serving where Fun Dip is 3). I decided to let the kids in on a well kept secret, sugar in sugar form. We paid for our treat and alcohol and headed home through the alley. Oliver was holding the candy and I remember thinking, "I hope no mom sees me letting my kid buy Fun Dip". For some reason in my mind sugary candy= bad parenting. We hurried home.

We all sat down on the kiddie picnic table. I handed a sugar stick to Oliver and the other to Amelia, I can use my finger. We open the first pack and I had to take a few minutes to teach them how to eat this special candy. As we enjoyed our sugar I started thinking. This is exactly what I want to be doing right now on this nice summery day. The kids (heck, we all) were excited, but calm and engaged. I was not thinking about the dishes or dust. They were taking turns, waiting patiently and bonding with each other. I was not pulling Oliver off Amelia. They were developing their fine motor and verbal skills. I was fully engaged. Most importantly, they were having fun with their mom. We all had big smiles on our faces. Priceless.

I'm working on becoming a "perfectly good mom" and trying to let some of the high expectations I have for myself go. They are MY kids. Why am I putting so much pressure on myself and them because of what others may think or say? F them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not planning on having Fun Dip daily, but I want to let my kids be kids. A little sugar, TV, sun exposure, dirt, dust, clutter etc is not going to kill them. This isn't going to change overnight, but like I said I'm working on it. I want my kids to look back on their childhood and say we had fun with our mom, not we always ate healthy and the dishes were always done and there was always lessons to be learned. I need to relax, breathe and enjoy. May there be many more "fun dip" moments ahead.

Incase you're wondering, yes the kids survived and they slept great that night.