How Do You Know You're A Successful Mom?

I started thinking today about how I could be a better Mom to my kids. Actually, I am always thinking that.  Then, I wondered what is a successful Mom like? I think that to each person it is different and that's perfectly perfect.

I decided today, that to me it means that if my kids are caring for others and the earth just because it feels good in their heart then I have been successful. If my daughter or sons can go to school and be a friend to the one kid that doesn't have one, I am a successful Mom. Just like bullying is taught, I believe that goodness is also taught and mostly by example from us. If my kids decide to pick up trash in our neighborhood just because they know that it is not good for our earth to just leave it there, I feel successful. When my daughter asks to volunteer at the local animal shelter, just because she wants to I feel happy in my heart and again, I feel like a successful Mom. If my kids are honest, even when they know they have done the wrong thing (i.e. broke a window in our garage and telling me before I have to find out and ask questions), I know that I have been good in teaching them an important value that will hopefully carry on for the rest of their lives. As they grow into adults and have their own families, if they want to come back home to visit on their own without being asked/invited, I will feel that I have been a good, successful Mom.

There are plenty of times when I know that I do not have it right. Like mornings. I do not do mornings. My alarm clock and I are enemies and by now if we haven't figured it out, we probably never will. I need to be successful in teaching my kids how to do mornings. Typically, because I like to sleep in a little longer than I should our mornings can be hectic. Ew. What a way to start the day!

I am an artist, which means I am a free spirit and that also means that I am not always organized. I have to teach my kids that this is something that needs to be important in their lives. I am a lot better than I used to be, but I have room (lots of it) to grow.

I think that sometimes we focus solely on our own careers and just expect our kids to know how to grow up to be the kind of people we want them to be. "Kids are expensive." I hear that line all of the time. I think being a parent is mostly emotionally expensive because sometimes it's taxing on parents to always do the "right thing" and to constantly teach lessons. It is, however, our job as parents to do that each and every day.