If you think I’m going to tell you about a woman I know who is a perfect mother, I’m afraid I have to disappoint you. There is no such person! In this whole wide world, there is no woman who is perfect at mothering. For some, this may be a relief to hear. For others, this may be a let down because they will never achieve perfection.
Let’s look at this rationally. We have a baby without any mothering experience and then have to learn on the job. However, most of us have nobody to show us the right way to do things- we have to teach ourselves. Thankfully, babies are born with very few needs and are able to loudly tell us when we are doing something wrong. But if we are quite honest, motherhood is an unknown until we are actually right in the middle of it.
Most of us work very hard at perfecting our role as a mommy. Just when we’ve almost perfected it and we feel like we’ve figured it all out, on comes the next stage in your child’s life, demoting us back to amateur status. Some mothers are close to perfect at dealing with a certain age group- personally, I love babies. Others are absolutely lost when it comes to particular ages or stages. I’m willing to bet the teenage years throw most of us completely off track.
When you think about it, you probably don’t know anyone who would call their own mother perfect. They may think that their mother was the best mother ever, but I’m sure no one would claim that their mother was without a flaw or quirk.
No human is without error. Therefore, no mother is without faults. That doesn’t mean that we cannot strive towards perfection. I want to always be the very best mother I can be. I am not often successful, but I refuse to give up. My goal is not to be a perfect mother- my goal is to be the very best mother I can be for my children.
Not only that... but what each defines as perfect is as varied as there are people on earth. And, what would be the perfect style of mothering for one child would be disastrous for another child.
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