Last night I let my children stay up until midnight, watching movies and eating junk food.
Today I let them eat as much candy as they wanted for "lunch".
Am I a bad Mom?
Before you judge me, let me explain:
Dan and I host a couples Christmas party every year. On that evening, we let our kids have their own party upstairs with goodies. They get to stay up as long as they are being good.
Another annual tradition is getting together with friends to decorate graham cracker houses with candy.
It just so happened these 2 traditions fell back to back this year.
So no, I do not normally let my children stay up until midnight or eat as much candy as they want.
This scenario brings a couple of thoughts to mind.
1) It would be really easy for someone to read the first two sentences of this post and judge me as a bad Mom. It made me think, how often am I judgemental of other Moms based on what I see at first glance? Or on what she may allow her children to do that is different from what I do as a Mom? Heaven forbid another Mom sets different bedtimes or food choice allowances or TV watching times from my holy standard!
Lord help me not be so judgemental. May I look at the plank of bad Mom moments in my own eye before judging the specs in another Mother's eye! May I be quicker to offer genuine assistance and support to other moms, rather than condemning thoughts. Amen.
Interactive Segment:
2) I was curious what Christmas traditions you ladies may have with your kids?
(Especially if they involve something that could be considered "bad Mom") :)
well, this is no news to you, Britt but...when our kids were growing up, we opened our Christmas stockings on Christmas Eve. We also enjoyed lots of snack foods and always drank sparkling fruit drinks (Meier's is the best...cold duck, sparkling catawba were my favorites). Then Christmas morning we read Luke 2, then opened our gifts, one at a time to be savored by both the recipient and the gift giver. This was followed by a nice breakfast. (Is this how my kids remember it?) Miss those days. Traditions are a lovely family element that serve as a bonder.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a mom but I think it's great that you have special nights where they get to stay up and eat all the candy they want to!
ReplyDeleteAhhh yes,
ReplyDeleteMeiers Cold Duck :)
I have fond memories of the rest of it, too. We also make our children "suffer" through hearing the true Christmas story before opening presents!
And thanks, Kate, for the encouragement! Only, next time I let them stay up real late and eat all the sugar they want, can I ship them your way for a couple days?! :)