Kodak (who claims, with some clever ads on my sidebar, that we can at least partially knock off our economic worry with a printer) and JuiceBoxJungle sponsored me to write this post, and they asked me to talk about the top and bottom3 things I think/worry about as a mom.
Where do I begin?
Since I’m a mom of 3 kids (2 girls ages 10 & 4, 1 boy age 13), there are many things that I think about. I often ask myself, are my children happy? Will they hate me if I punish them? Am I being the best mother I can be? Will they go to college and be independent adults? Are they eating enough veggies and getting their vitamins? Is that cough bad enough to visit the doctor? The list can go on and on.
Being a mom is hard work and now that I am a mother, I think about the things I put my own mom through and it just makes me want to kiss the ground she walks on. Honestly, I wasn’t that bad as a child but I could’ve been better. All the back talk and the slamming of the doors that I did was unnecessary but I guess it’s all part of childhood and the hormones that go along with it.
So, here are my top 3 things I worry about:
1. I have to be honest and say I worry a lot about money. The economy hasn’t been the greatest in the last year so that is something that is always on my mind. Nowadays, no one has a stable job. You can get laid off in a second without notice and that can be quite scary. We’ve had some financial difficulties in the past but I made sure my kids didn’t know anything about it because I don’t want my kids worrying about “grown-up stuff” or be affected in any other way.
2. I worry about their education. Ok, I’ll just be honest and say it – I don’t have a penny saved up for my kid’s college education and I’m scared. Every year when we get our taxes done, we ask ourselves (my husband and I), what are we going to do when the kids go to college. I honestly don’t have any idea. Most of the time, I tell him, we’ll get to that when it’s time but I can’t help but feel guilty when I hear other parents having thousands of dollars saved up for their children’s education.
3. I worry about their future. Will they be independent and productive adults? Sometimes my husband tells me that I treat my 13 year old son like a baby. I can’t help it; to me he’s still “my baby”. I know I have to start treating him like a young adult and I’m trying really hard to do it because in reality, I don’t want him living at home when he’s in his twenties doing nothing and throwing his life away.
Here are my bottom 3 things that I don’t often worry about:
1. Are my kids getting enough love? Of course they are. I love each and every one of my 3 kids and they know it. It’s funny because they’ll ask me who’s my favorite and I’ll tell them that my son is my favorite 13 year old, my oldest daughter is my favorite 10 year old and my youngest is my favorite 4 year old. They laugh but it’s true.
2. Are they happy? I believe they are. If they laugh everyday and we have time to talk daily, then in my heart, I know that they are happy. I also know when there is something wrong with them with just one look. I am their mother 😉
3. Will they have a hard time finding true love? I hope not. Although my husband and I have our ups and downs, (and who doesn’t!) I believe that if they see us happy, talking with one another, laughing, kissing (yes, we kiss in front of our kids but nothing x-rated, lol) and hugging, they’ll know what a “real” relationship should look like. There shouldn’t be any domestic violence between two people that love each other and I’m happy to know that my kids did not and will not grow up with that kind of environment.
So, what are your worries as a parent? Care to share? I would love to hear your thoughts 🙂
Nowadays, there are so many different threats and worries that didn’t exist when we were children. It’s pretty scary. Thanks for sharing your worries and non-worries.