Promises, Promises

While I was pregnant, and even before then, I vowed never to let me child watch too much tv drink anything but milk, and we would eat dinner at the dining room table every night.

So guess what?

We watch tv A LOT (the Mud Puddle begs for the “Bad Singers” – aka American Idol- every night).
He drinks juice like it is going out of style (I do cut it with water based on a report I read that juice has as much sugar as soda -I don’t believe it but I am all about hedging my bets).
The dining room table? Currently covered in mail and unread magazines. It hasn’t seen a meal in MONTHS.

We have a friend who says you have to have at least two kids because ‘you always mess up the first pancake.’ Personally, I am trying really hard not to mess up this one. But I sometimes stop and question my choices as a parent. It was really easy BMP (Before Mud Puddle) to make grandiose statements about how I would do things.
“There will be no juice or tv unless it is PBS, there will be many vegetables including brussel sprouts and lima beans.”

But the reality is that day to day, juice is easier, Noggin is easier (and necessary if I want to slap on make up and spend more than 30 seconds with my hair), dinner at the coffee table is EASIER (especially since we all eat at different times). And I don’t know if these easier choices will come back and bite me some day in the near or distant future.

He maybe 20 and unable to eat at a dining room table without a Dora placemat before these ‘bad choices’ rear their ugly head.

I feel like I do make some good choices too. I have kept one or two of my Good Mother Commandments, surprisingly enough.
I said that my child would inherit my love of books and the Mud Puddle has. We go to the library on a regular basis. Hit the book store once a week (granted, we start the visit with a cookie and a ride in the elevator but STILL), and read a story (Nearly) every night before bed.
I make sure I don’t push him too much to do what I think he should – he doesn’t like soccer? Ok, we can revisit again at a later time. He really wants to try skiing? Ok, lets give it a go and see how it plays out (pretty well, btw).
Teeth are brushed, hair is combed and cut on a regular basis and the face is washed daily.

I kind of feel like I am batting .500 on the Commandments and I cross my fingers, light a candle and say a little prayer that the ones I slide on won’t make a difference in the grand scheme of things.