For me, I've always known that I'd be an over the top mom in ways. I knew that things like birthdays, holidays, bedrooms, special outfits, extra curricular events, ect would be a big deal to me. I can remember being like 12 years old on vacation in Florida with my family and seeing this adorable family of 5 wearing matching aqua and khaki outfits. I instantly thought to myself, 'I want to be just like that someday.'. I wanted to be that cheesy overly involved mother. A soccer mom with a big SUV and perfectly put together kids. I day dreamed about my future family for basically all of my life. I think that I felt that way because my parents always made things a big deal for my brother and I. From one on one Valentine's dates every year with my dad and always making holidays and birthdays super special to never once missing a sporting event or extra curricular event of ours. They were hands on and as involved as a parent can get. Now I do those things for my kids because I know just how important it was for me and just how much it meant to me. I DO NOT do ANYTHING, EVER to one up someone and I will be the first to tell you that my kids look put together in pictures ONLY because the second that I get them dressed, I snap a picture. They don't make it to where we are going without making a mess of themselves. By the time we get to school the girls have already taken their bows out and messed up their hair. Hudson is a human mess maker. He can not avoid getting dirty. It's like dirt stalks him ha. My big nice SUV is the same way. Looks great on the ride home from vacuuming it out but has grass and mud everywhere before the hour is up. Those cute birthday parties and holidays only look that cute in pictures before the house looks like a tornado hit it. Those custom made special outfits never get worn more than once because I wash them then pack them away for keep sakes after the kids wear them just to be safe. I know that these things are a waste of money but all of the extra stuff that I do feels so important to me because I know from experience that someday my kids will look back and appreciate it all. It'll mean something to them that they meant that much to me for me to go completely out of my way to make them feel special. I know that there is nothing that I can do to make them feel as special as they actually are but I want to try. I want them to know that in every little thing that had to do with them, it meant the world to me. No one but them is relevant in my actions and I want all moms to feel that way. Don't feel society's pressure to be a one upper. If your family simply baked a cake together on your birthdays and that's what's special to you, that's as special as it get. That's perfect and that's what family is all about. Just like if your family had extravagant occasions that took months to plan so that's what you want to do with your kids too, you do that. Carry on those traditions. Or if you had a crappy childhood and want to start your own traditions for your kids, go for it. That's awesome. No matter what anyone else is doing, do what you do for you and your family! We can't let other moms or people influence what we do because at the end of the day doing anything at all will be good enough. And if you're the mom who finds yourself with the need to one up everyone else, just stop it. We aren't here to one up one another but to help one another up.
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