And the verdict is... GUILTY!

Why as parents, moms especially, do we walk around with a load of guilt on our shoulders? Whether it's wondering if you spent enough time playing with your children or not looking when your son scores his first soccer goal - every day I struggle with guilt. Today is no different... Today was my sons first day of camp and I read the instructions on what to send with a fine tooth comb the night before. So, this morning was a piece of cake and he and I both were excited about this new adventure.

My first piece of guilt was not doing anything with my daughter. I wondered what I did with my son when he was her age. So, I took her for a walk, albeit a short one. Then we played and watched television together. I felt guilty. So, I decided that we'd color and play board games but at the moment I was filling the aquadoodle pen with water, my cell phone rang and it was my sons camp! They asked if I had packed his lunch and of course I told them I did and what was in the brown bag, but decided to look in the frig anyway to make sure. Low and behold, there was lunch. I forgot to put it in his backpack! Why were they calling me at 12:15 instead of 9:15 when they should have been realizing this I thought. I told them I would be there in mere minutes. What should be a 15 minute drive only took me 8 looong minutes. I felt terrible at the thought of the other kids munching on their turkey sandwiches and Jack sitting there quietly. When I arrived, his face lit up and he gave me the biggest smile. Little did he know that I walked out crying. He didn't know the difference, but all I could think about was how bad a mom I was and his teachers didn't give me a reason to feel any different. All of this said, why why why do we feel so much guilt all of the time? We're not bad parents. Forgetful? Yes. Bad? Not a chance.