Pin the Guilt on the Mommy

Just when I think I've accepted my limits as a mom, my inadequacies are pointed out yet again - this time by the website Pinterest. When I saw everyone posting about Pinterest, I thought it was either a book or a TV show and I was just out of the loop. Turns out Pinterest is where everyone posts these great ideas, from crafts to recipes to hairstyles - basically all things that I have given up on as a mom. See, I love looking at Parents magazine and reading about how these moms discovered a way to make their pasta from scratch or came up with really innovative ways to keep their kids clean when painting by using milk jugs - and feel a bit of resentment.  And I get daily emails with crafts and recipes for busy moms - which I am too busy to read and promptly delete instead (time management skills - yes!) Actually, if I'm being honest, I am a bit jealous of these moms' time, creativity and patience. These are three characteristics that I often lack.  In fact, I hide my children's play dough because I don't want to deal with the mess it creates.

So now I hear about Pinterest and see what all these other Super Moms do, making food from scratch and making neat Thanksgiving Day decorations from yarn. And I really want to be like these moms. But I'm tired at the end of the day after working and think I'm having a pretty good night if I make a dinner that doesn't involve deli turkey, much less a diorama of the first Thanksgiving feast out of macaroni. I think back to one of my all time favorite childhood memories of walking through the park with my mom, finding the prettiest leaves and taking them home to press in between the encyclopedia pages. My kids won't even know what an encyclopedia is, much less use it to press red and orange leaves.

I hear you have to be accepted into Pinterest and think, well, let's skip the guilt and just act like I've never heard of it. I feel successful if my house is clean for 5 minutes during the week or if I serve a fruit AND a vegetable at dinner. But I really do want to be the mom that does crafts everyday and makes homemade cookies each week out of carrot juice instead of actual sugar. But then I ask why reinvent the Oreo when it already is perfect? And before my Pinterest friends say it's about more than just crafts and recipes, I know it's about fashion and hair too. And I respond by saying most days I don't take the time to blow dry my hair because even that takes too long and fashion to me right now means that my clothes are clean.

I'm working on accepting what I have the time and energy to do every day and to maximize the weekend. There's only so much I can do as a working mom, and if I can make a few childhood memories for the boys, then I will have been successful. And I know someday I'll have the time to sit down and be the crafty, Martha Stewart-type mom I want to be. I just hope my boys, who will probably be 23 and 18 by then, will still want to make pilgrim hats out of thimbles and twine. As for now, I'll just read my friends' posts about the cool mom things they do and feel admiration...and jealous.