Mom Competition (Sincerely 'Fro Me to You)

I have a theory.

Each of us parent our children based in direct relation to how we were parented.

We are either trying to replicate our childhood, or make up for it.

In many cases it's like a pendulum. It swings from rigid to lazze faire.

And with each new generation it won't swing so far to the extremes.

And the more time passes, (ie our children get older) we begin to hear our mother's or father's words come from our mouths. Regardless of our intentions.

*off my pychobabble soapbox for today*

That said, I am competitive.

(Stay with me......it'll all come together.)

I am one of THOSE moms.

Although, I am only in competition with my mother.

The rest of you.....live and let live. Really.

I just strive to beat my mother in all areas of motherhood.

It drives me.

If my mom would have agreed to enter into any sort of competition with me she certainly would have chosen a different arena. She wouldn't trade being MY mother for anything. But it wasn't something she chose.

This showdown lives in my head. (it's getting crowded in there, by the way)

Here's a little useless background that will set up this example:

Again, we moved around a lot. 16 schools, remember? My mom rarely came to our school. She didn't keep track of which day was which, like the holiday party was this day, reports cards came out that day, or picture day is Wednesday.

I try to keep up with all of those things with my kids, but as the kids are getting older it is beginning to blur and lose the importance status it once had.

Let's take Picture day for example.

I always note Picture day on my calendar so I know to double check that the kids look decent before driving them to school. Even though we only purchase the class picture.

I just don't want one of those funky school pics of my kid ending up on a humor blog.

I'm just saying.....I see which way this WWW thing is blowing.

My mom, though? Never occurred to her.

Look at this:
This is a picture of my brother in 3rd. grade.

Looks like a typical mid to late '70's kid?

Take a closer look:

Yup, that's bubble gum DRIED to his face. It looks to be either a few days old, or he was a dirty pig. It's a toss up. If you knew him you'd agree.

Now, this particular school we spent no more than 3-4 months there and attended two other schools that same year. We moved from Florida, with my dad, to New Hampshire where they separated for the final time, and back to another part of Florida with my mom's new boyfriend.

It was a rough year for us. My brother had to live this picture down.

Me? Well, I'll save the brownie story for Valentine's Day. It's worth the wait, pinky swear.

Back to the competition:

Let's just say.......

My children have NEVER had dried, dirty gum on their faces in a school picture.

Bahama Shores Mama: 1

Gypsy Mama: 0

IN YOUR FACE........with love :)


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