Chicken nuggets and God

I always seem to have these epiphany motherhood moments in some random place, like the chicken nugget aisle of the grocery store today. I guess it all started when I was standing debating on which flip flops to buy and this grandmother with her own granddaughter the same age as Kenz stops next to my cart for some baby chit chat. And her baby points at Kenzi's binkie and babbles something and the grandmother replies with something along the lines of how she (as in MY kid) is too old for a binkie and walks away. It took me a minute to realize what crazy grandma and her oh so wise parenting self had said. And good thing I was still wearing my broken, holey flip flop or might have chased her down and gave her my two cents on her old woman wisdom.

So anyway, Kenz and I continue our grocery trip. Yes, with that darn binkie for all those judgemental people out there. By the time we make it the frozen chicken nugget aisle Kenz is starting to drive me crazy with the whining and dropping stuff on the floor for me to play the pick up game with her. And it's like I had this flashback. I remembered the first time we went to buy chicken nuggets when Averi was starting to eating solids. And we read through the back of every package and read this and that online for what ingredients to get and avoid and all that crap that I'm sure we all started off doing. And now I have no idea what I buy. If it's there on the shelf, in the freezer, allowed in the store, I assume it's safe. I am not a browse through every product reveiw that is out there person before I decide what is "best" for my child. I am not an all "natural" products, parent, shopper, whatever. People are always talking about these "crunchy" moms. I don't even think I know what that means. Sometimes I think I should stop reading other mom blogs because I read all these I think they're "crunchy" mom things that moms do and I think,  "Oh my God, I'm awful. I don't do that. Should I do that?" Am I going to harm my child because I am buying the processed frozen probably not that great for her chicken nuggets?

Don't get me wrong, what we feed them is important and they do need a balance diet. My sister still gives me a hard time because I watch their sugary drink intake like a hawk (okay maybe not as much as I use to) and I did feed them baby food with DHA because it says it makes them smarter?! Course I have never made my own baby food. I can barely boil water without causing a fire or something; I really don't think I should be the one making them their first foods. And if it does make them smarter I have yet to figure out then why Averi does the crazy stuff that she does? Wouldn't that magic food have made her think like a fifteen year old instead of a three or four year old. Oh, wait, sometimes they're not that smart at that age either.

So in the frozen chicken aisle I had the epiphany I am not going to get the worse mother of the year award after all. Guess what too? None of us are! Whether we made our own baby food, buy them the store bought crap, use pampers or cloth diapers, nurse them until their six months or two or never, let them run wild or run a strict house, or let them have that binkie a little longer than whoever says is necessary, it's fine. We're all fine. We are not perfect; our children are not perfect; our way is not the perfect way. But God saw us as the perfect fit for our particular child(ren), and that's the only thing that is going to be perfect about how we raise our kids. He felt this is the perfect mother for this child and that is why we were each gifted with the child(ren) we receiveed.  God saw us as perfect for them with our imperfected lives and ways. Whether that child is easy, hard, funny, different, quiet, loud, mischievous, or whatever they each may be, God saw how it was a perfect fit. And that is what is perfect about motherhood.

That was my motherhood moment of the day.


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