Today in the grocery store I saw Kate Gosselin on a tabloid cover. It was all about how she's a terrible monster who has crazy rules and expectations of her kids.
Yeah, yeah, don't we all.
But I started thinking about her show. I won't lie, she seemed like such a heinous bitch to me. I kind of watched her shows for the shit show it provided. She yelled all the time, she was obsessed with her routine and she was mean to her husband.
Hmmm.... Me too.
I am pretty obsessed with keeping my children on schedule. I think it's incredibly important that everyone knows what they can expect to come next and my kids respond very well to it. I'm not crazy though, I won't cut an evening with friends short because my kids have to be in bed by 7:30 (and they do!), because they can hang in there. They don't get crabby. But I'm still respectful of the sleep they've missed and try to work in a longer nap the next day (though they almost never make up a late bedtime until 3 days later). Rules are made to be broken after all, but I do the best I can on ordinary days. We have lunch, nap and dinner at pretty much the same time. Bath and bed follow shortly thereafter and everyone is happy in the morning after a good nights sleep. And I only have two. If I had 8 to wash and feed, I'd be even more high strung. I do like to think I'm nicer to my husband than Kate was, but certainly I fail at that too on occasion.
And then I remembered the notes. Kate had notes plastered all over her house. I don't know what the said because to my knowledge the camera never zoomed in on them. But I suspect I know, and I bet they had to do with calming the eff down. I know because I have them too.
Some of us aren't built to be nurturing or calm or patient. Some of us have to learn it. And I'm still learning.
I'm not saying she's perfect but those notes let me know she was trying. And the ones at my house remind me that I am too.
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