I'm not very good at being one of those moms. What type of Mom do I mean? Well, the type of Mom that is really dedicated to something their child is involved in. The soccer moms, the ballet moms, the karate moms, the "fill in activity" moms.
That was driven home again this Spring and Summer to me. My son was playing baseball for the very first time. He enjoyed it so much, and I'm very thankful to the family that gave him rides to most of his practices. I didn't really know what we were getting into when he started. But when the games started, and I began attending them, I realized it. I'm just not a baseball mom. I probably won't be very good at being any type of sports mom. We got him to his games. Steve, myself, or both of us attended all his games. But I didn't have the same passion and commitment I saw in some of the other families.
And then I attended our first 4-H judging for this year's fair and as I stood there watching some of the other moms, I was reminded how I'm not a very good 4-H mom either. We attend the meetings, we enter projects in the fair, and we turn in the dreaded paperwork. But I am not as committed to it as some other families. I don't have a passion for it, we usually leave most of it to the last minute rather than preparing throughout the year, and to be honest there are times I just would love to quit.
I don't know what that leaves. What type of Mom am I? What am I passionate about and committed to?
I get them to church every week, but I'll confess there are weeks when I would have gladly skipped the Wednesday night activities. Now that one teen is driving, I can occasionally send older kids with her and stay home, but I try not to do that simply for my own convenience. Does that mean I'm not even a good Church mom?
I'm a homeschool mom, but I don't write my own curriculum, and I'm not nearly as focused as some homeschool moms. I don't spend weeks in my summer making detailed lesson plans. I don't spend hundreds of dollars on the very best curriculum. I don't spend hours running my children to multiple activities to supplement their education. I don't fill each week's lessons with awesome hands-on activities and lapbooks or notebooking. We haven't ever kept up with the nature journals we started. I've homeschooled for over 13 years, but sometimes I feel like I'm not even a good homeschool mom.
So what am I committed to?
I'm committed to raising my children to love the Lord and serve Him as adults. I'm committed to helping the children in our church know about God as well. I'm committed to teaching my children all they need to know to be successful and capable adults. I'm passionate about them having a Christian education with a Biblical worldview. I'm committed to holding my family together, loving my children as individuals, and loving my husband faithfully. I don't know what label that can put on me, but it helps to realize that even if I'm not a good baseball mom, 4H mom, or even homeschool mom ... I am still a committed mom.
April E.
