Honesty from the Mouth's of Babes

Ever since my daughter announced to me yesterday morning that she “always says” her brother did it when she actually did, I’ve been thinking about honesty.

I honestly love this bumper sticker I recently saw “God Bless the Whole World – No Exceptions.”

And speaking of blessings: I have often thought that mothers would be better off (as would the whole world) if we could be more honest with ourselves and certainly with other parents. I have at least one mama friend who I can tell everything too – without judgment or reservation – honest feedback gotten in return. I think it would be great to have a support group and discuss our children’s and our own issues with parents of classmates but alas most often I think we all want to hide behind others’ potential beliefs that we’ve got it all together when we’re thinking in reverse that we are the only ones who can’t get it right. While our kitchens may at times look like this


(yes that’s a corner of my kitchen right now and there’s more), we want others to believe they sparkle like something out of Martha Stewart’s Living magazine. I could be wrong but I’m guessing Martha has some help.

Is this just an extension of the grass is always greener in the other mama’s yard? Maybe one of the things I love about Erma Bombeck in her musing on motherhood was the theoretical honesty of it. Her children as adults maintain that she was actually a wonderful mother whose writing was more fiction than fact. I suppose it would have to be true. Why is it bothersome to confess that our beds often go unmade? That as mother’s we are imperfect but always perfecting?


This morning I heard about a book which has just topped my list of MUST READs “Mommies That Drink”. A telling quote from Amazon.com says of the book, “Here, in a voice that's as incisive and poignant as the very best women's fiction, she addresses the issues she and her friends face as they brave the new world of motherhood--where the secret question on their minds at the playground is "What time of the day is too early to start drinking?"

There it is in a nutshell. We struggle and worry and need support but are often afraid to be honest enough to get what we truly need. We aren’t alone but feel that we are. We are going to have to open ourselves up to each other more -- I believe -- as mamas and as women to change the stories and values that change our world – for the better. Mama Blogging seems to be an excellent start! Blog on Mama.

And on a completely unrelated but fun note... Our kitty wants in on the blackberry harvesting too.