Things that I do wrong. Really wrong.

No, no, no, this isn’t some self pity party post. I promise.  There are just some things that I know that I do wrong and I will probably never change these things about myself.

During the summer and since I’ve been a stay at home mom, my kids have no bedtime.  None. Nada.  Ain’t gonna happen.  Why? Well, this brings me to my next “wrong thing.”  I like to sleep in. I like for my kids to sleep in.  Like past 9am.  I don’t want to wake up at the crack of dawn and get ready for the day.  There will be plenty of days like that in theirs and mine future. For now, I want us to stay up late and sleep in when we can.  Most moms probably don’t let their six years old stay up until 1 in the morning.  I do.

I smoke.  Apparently that puts me on the “bad mommy list” right away no matter what else I do.  Some kids aren’t allowed at my house because I smoke.  They must have really super awesome parents.  That sort of discrimination pisses me off pretty quickly.  Do the parents know if I smoke inside or out?  Nope.  Well, unless my own kids tattle on me which they probably do because I have raised my kids not to lie.  I know smoking sucks and is wrong and is bad and blah blah blah… but I want to ask the parents of the kids that can’t come play, “Do you own a gun? If yes, my kids aren’t allowed to play at your house then!  But I trust, as a parent, that you keep your guns put up and away and aren’t on the coffee table like my cigarettes.”  I want to ask, “Do you drink a glass or glasses of red whine in the evening to wind down?  If yes, I don’t want my kids over there because they have alcoholics from every angle in their family history and I don’t want them around alcohol.”  But my smoking is a deal breaker.  Whatever.  It pisses me off.  And it makes me long for the days when I was kid when every parent seemly smoked and it wasn’t a big deal. 

I let my kids watch scary movies.  Movies that most parents wouldn’t let their kids watch.  I let my kids watch ‘em.  The Strangers was the one we watched last night.  Total parenting fail there, but we love them!  My kids know it’s all fake and I tell them all the time, “someone got paid lots of money to make it look real and one day that could be your job is that is what you want to do when you grow up.” But still, most moms would criticize me for letting my kids watch scary movies.   But the scary movies back up the other thing I do wrong, I let my kids sleep with me when the hubby is working.  They don’t have to sleep with me and I don’t make them, but if that is what they want for that night, I don’t mind and never tell them no.  When they were babies, it was unheard of! I would never let my baby sleep with me, but now that they are older I don’t have the fear of me rolling over on top of them and smothering them, I don’t mind them sleeping with me.  Most moms probably let their babies sleep with them, but not their 10 year olds.  I am just backwards, I guess?

I make, yes make,  my kids watch Teen Mom on MTV. I tell them, “This right here is why you don’t have sex before marriage and if nothing else, always, always use a condom! Having a baby to take care of when aren’t even out of high school is no joke and hard, very hard work.”  Most moms don’t let their kids watch anything on MTV, let alone talk about sex to their six year old.  I do.  All my “Don’t do it. Use a condom!” speeches will probably backfire. I will probably be a very young grandma.  I hope not though.  I hope that with that look into what it’s like to be a teen mom teaches them just how hard not just being a teen mom is, but how hard being a mom is.  I think Teen Mom should be required TV viewing watching for anyone who is raising a daughter of any age.  I do not let my kids watch Jersey Shore though (which starts Thursday! Squee!) So that is one in the plus column, right? 

I let my kids eat sugary cereals.  Enough said. 

It’s like I’m a 14 year old babysitting, isn’t it? 

I can’t keep my house clean. It really pisses me off.  I blame my grandma and mom for that one.  I was raised with absolutely no chores.  My grandma, who lived with me and my mom, cleaned my room, did my laundry, just did everything. I had nothing to do but be a kid.  That did not prepare me for adulthood or prepare me for giving my own kids chores.  My kids have no chores either.  Another parenting fail. Apparently.  I have found that every other parent out there gives their kids chores. I don’t. And for that, having a clean house is never-ending! It drives me crazy because nothing will teeter me on the side of depression quicker than a dirty house.  Everything has to be neat, orderly and in it’s place for me to be happy.  I hate that about myself.  It drives me crazy that I can’t be happy with a mess. 

If I don’t wake up and take a shower right away, it probably isn’t going to happen that day.  If that should happen for a few days in row, it can get kinda of gross. 

Tomorrow, things that I do right!  Yes, I do think I do some things right.