Being a "Grown-Up" and a Mom...

Being an adult (and I use that term loosely) and a mom has taught be a thing or two. Because I've been an official grown-up for almost 11 years and a mother for 4, I'm really, really wise.

Some things I now know...

• Being a mom means figuring out how to gracefully exit a Target when your child pukes in the diaper aisle. (I cleaned everything up first. Really Target should thank me because the floor was probably cleaner than it had been in the first place.)
• Being a mom means learning the fine line between needing stitches and needing a hearty Band-Aid. (For the record, we've only had stitches once. Waiting on the broken bone any moment now.)
• Being a mom means knowing how to politely tell your child, "Quit faking, you're not hurt." But you know, in a sweeter way than that.
• Being a mom of three (almost) has most definitely taught me how to keep my mouth shut when others seems catty or self-righteous about the only way to parent. And, by the way, makes me very, very thankful that I decided long ago (pre-kids) to literally never say never. I knew I'd end up eating my words when I had kids, so I thought it'd be best to bypass that completely.
• Being a mom means reminding a smaller person to say, "I need to use the restroom" instead of "I need to go poop right now!" on a daily basis.
• Being a mom means being right by their side when they want to see if the family fish will allow them to be pet. (Woody seemed OK with it; Sofia, not so much.)
• Being a mom means playing in the mud, running in the rain, dumping out every toy in the toy box and letting kids help cook dinner is kind of amazing. Messy, but amazing. I mean, really...is there much of anything that truly can't be cleaned up later?
• Being a mom means ironing is so overrated. Unless it's picture day, a holiday or a Sunday morning when my mom will see the kids at church, I don't care about wrinkles. (Maybe this one just applies to me.)
• Being a mom means you're the best mom you can be for your child. Give yourself a break, you're doing everything right...even if you mess up every once in a while.

That's all for this installment, but as I gain more wisdom, I'll continue sharing. It's the least I can do.