I'm not the mother you see in Highlights magazine wearing the cute flared skirt and serving up a tray of lemonade. I'll never rank close to my own beautiful mother, who birthed me at age 21.
So, just to clear my troubled mind as this chapter of motherhood ends for me, here are the ways I have missed the mark.
1. I did not donate a kidney to my baby girl -- her dad did that. (I could have. I really could have.)
2. I hated breastfeeding. It's supposed to be healthy and bonding and wonderful in a home-school, mom-of-the-world way. I refused. (I could have done that too.)
3. I forgot to pull out the Halloween and Easter decorations. And at Christmas, I sometimes hired a Christmas tree decorator. (It's true. Sad, but true.)
4. I never baked cookies. (I'm not apologizing for that.)
5. I rarely, if ever, sat down to dinner with my family. I was usually out playing tennis.
6. I never did homework or made posters for my kids and rarely asked about homework.
7. I haven't showed up for school events put together, hair perfectly fixed. I'm usually in exercise clothes that don't match.
8. I sometimes let my kids stay out too late and I sometimes made them come in too early.
9. I occasionally let them skip school or church for not a great reason.
10. On the first day of junior high, I forgot to pick up both Mary Katherine AND Rachel from school. (Different years, same school. Horrors!)
