In My Daughter's Eyes...

I went to my last Mother's Day Tea on May 10th. Ok, not my last ever, but my last for a while. My children's elementary school does a Mother's Day Tea for the Kindergarten and Pre-K classes each year. I went to Sassy's Pre-K Tea, then her Kindergarten Tea, and then Diva's Pre-K tea. And now I have had my last Mother's Day Tea for a while with Diva's Kindergarten Tea since I will not attend another until Monkey is in school in a few years.

It was very cute and very fun. The kids sang, then joined us at the tables to show us all the gifts they had made. You can read all about them in my Mother's Day post that will be coming soon, but one gift really hit a nerve and I thought it deserved it's very own post.

The students each completed a fill-in-the-blank sheet about their moms. This is Diva's sheet:

Very cute, right? But I want to break it down piece by piece, because it shows you exactly how my daughter sees me as a Mom.

10 Parenting Principles I Wish I'd Known: Episode Six

6) Your Children are not You, Even if You Treat Them as if They Are

Ok, this one seems like a no-brainer, right? We've all heard about the parents that shove their child into football, ballet, piano, and yes, even Math-letes because that is what they excelled in and they want the same experience as their children. We've all heard about parents pushing their children to fulfill dreams that the parent did not accomplish. We've all heard about the parents that start their children on the fast track to the Ivy League when they are still busy trying to control their legs and pooping in their pants.

These parents are clearly the ones that forget that the their children's accomplishments are not a reflection on them as a person or as a parent. They project their own insecurities on to their child instead of accepting their child for who they are. They drive and put pressure on their child to clutch to every opportunity that they have to drive them towards goals that the parent wishes they had been able to fulfill when they had the chance back in their glory days.