“Dad is the one who plays with us, and Mom is the one who bosses us.”
Yeah. Those words came out of my 4-year-old daughter's mouth recently. After I twisted the knife out of my heart, I asked her if bossing her around is the only thing I do for her. She thought for a moment and replied, “You also put away our clothes!”
Well, great. Pin a rose on my nose. I am the lady who puts away clothes while bossing everyone around. I have successfully won motherhood.
Later that night, I asked my husband what I am doing wrong. He assured me that life from a 4-year-old's perspective is very skewed, and that I can’t take my self-esteem as a mom from her judgments. After all, this is a person who thinks she can legitimately become a unicorn one day. Well, a unicorn and a Candy Princess on the side.
Still, the words stung. I definitely don’t think every mom needs to be best friends with her children because parenting entails a lot more than that. But I don’t want to be the nag who isn’t any fun.