No Jon? Not a typo.

I have a confession to make. I did two depressing television-related things last night:

#1. Watched the Laker game. (Boo)
#2. Watched Kate + 8.

Yes, that’s not one of my usual typos – no Jon. Just Kate + 8. I watch it because no matter what people say, this show was what kept me sane when I started freaking out about what life with twins would be like. I’ll watch the insanely extraordinary yet ordinary day of those folks and always think to myself, “If they can do it with 8, I definitely can do it with 2.”

Last night, I watched the kids’ 6th birthday without their dad there. It’s a sad, sad situation. This isn’t a just a TV show, it’s somebody’s lives we’re watching, people. You can say ‘good riddens’ for both of them, but the actuality of it is this is real divorce and so many were hurt by this. So I don’t think anybody is ‘better off’. I think it’s sad. The saddest of it is the kids had to suffer through it as well.

People can say what they want about Kate – she’s controlling, she’s harsh…but I’ll tell you one thing, she’s a good mom. A good mom isn’t someone who smiles all the time, makes lunches from scratch every day, greets her children with hugs and kisses…a good mom is simply a mom that tries. Moms are still just human beings with their imperfections working towards an impossible goal of being perfect. I think sometimes we moms kill ourselves over the littlest of things. I know I do it. Kate says in an interview, “Every mom’s worst fear is to be a horrible mom.” So true. But I like to believe that if you live by this fear, you are no where close to a ‘horrible’ mom.

I’m going to say it outloud because I don’t think I say it to myself enough:

I’m a good mom.

I try my best everyday. I don’t always have perfectly prepared meals for them (thank you Costco chicken nuggets and Prego spaghetti sauce!), I let them watch TV a little too long some days when I’m tired, and I let them cry to sleep at night if they don’t go down peacefully. But I know my kids are happy, healthy and growing everyday and that’s due to my efforts (as well as the fabulous husband’s). They are well loved and well cared for. Plain and simple.