I've Been Labeled

While trolling through my usual favorite blog sites, I decided to check my stats figuring they would have plummeted what with the lack of posting and all. To my surprise THAT had not happened. (You like me, you really like me!!)

What I DID find was a site that had linked to mine that lumped me into a group of awesome MommyBloggers that were labeled self-deprecating. If you read through the entry she is not poking fun AT ME, per se - more in general to all of us, herself included. She had a running joke with a friend (i.e. THIS is why we suck being mothers! joke that I have with my good friend Laur) and the friend got ticked and may have taken it personally.

While I am not calling her out here, I did feel the need to respond to her comment there.

And I felt perhaps I should say it here too - but in more detail.

I am not self-deprecating.

I do not lower my value of my own existence, nor pray for it to change. What I DO is tell the freaking truth. It ain't always pretty. I fuck up. We ALL do. This charade that a lot of Moms put on about being perfect is a FARCE. It can NEVER happen. It is self-destructive to them and a bomb waiting to go off for everyone else around them.

I am not perfect - FAR from it actually. But I am ALWAYS me. I am real. I have all the guilt and fears and regrets every other Mom has. I deal with mine with humor. Cuz honestly, sometimes it is laugh or cry. Do I try my best? Absolutely. Do I fuck up something on a weekly basis. Uh huh. Do I worry that something I will do in my kid's lifetime will put them on a doctor's couch? You know it.

But, I accept myself for it. I am ONE person who has a lot of responsibilities and if I can't turn around and cut myself some slack - who the fuck will? Should I teach my kids to be over-critical of their mistakes - never accepting themselves and hating their very core. Fuck that. We LAUGH. At ourselves, at each other and at total strangers.

The bottom line is this. What I do here is tell stories about my life no differently then if you were over my house for coffee. I have an abundant amount of material that I take from MY OWN LIFE. I enjoy laughing. I try my best every day and sometimes it pans out....and other times...not so much.

I tell the SAME stories in the SAME way at birthday parties, at family functions and PTO meetings - well, actually THAT is a total lie - cuz, I do not linger at those AT ALL - I get my fundraiser stuff and get the fuck out of there. People LAUGH when I open up and tell them my stories. They appreciate someone being real and not competing with them for Super Mom status. I don't want your job lady - I have my own.

I am not self-deprecating. I LOVE my life. I LOVE my husband. I LOVE my kids. I LOVE my business. I LOVE teaching. I sorta like going back to Grad school. I LOVE my house and all the cracks and dents. And I will continue to laugh and tell jokes about myself and my family. I hope you all do too.