A+ mothering

There is no evaluation process for mothers; no A, B, F's. No grade point average, no review at the end of the term, no commission on timeouts, no salary for the amount of days put in, and no bonuses at the end of week. And yet we still try to find ways to evaluate our performances as mothers. We check our answers against other mothers, we use everything from news reports to "specialists" to tell us how we are doing. We even badger our Pediatricians for answers to see if we add up.

Why?

Is it the way we are wired? Have mothers been doing this for decades? I became a mother right out of college. I graduated with honors and felt that I must prepare for motherhood with much of the same vigor of which I approached my studies... but nothing, not endless hours reading mothering magazines, not going to every parenting class, nothing can prepare you for motherhood. It is a way of life, a new approach to life. The day my son was born I knew I had to throw away the magazines, give up my studies and focus on each moment with him. Only your children can teach you how to be a mother... they won't grade your tests, they will test your knowledge of who they are and what they need. They will test who you are as a person. At the end of each day, I don't get a grade, I don't get a pat on the back, but I do get to watch my son breathing in and out, in and out and that is all the bonuses I need. (most days that is:)