Meals and Memories

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I am thrilled {and a little scared to be so honest} to share this post with you today. While it is sponsored by Minute Maid®, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am imperfect. I say that not for anyone to try and convince me otherwise. I say that because somewhere along the way so many of us got caught up in the idea of perfection: the perfect home, the perfect family, the perfect job, the perfect food. It doesn’t help that here in blogland, perfect photographs are the goal. I mean Pinterest is built of swoonworthy photos of houses, families and foods. I think it is the mess that goes on beyond those photos that is the most important though because it reminds us that, beyond those perfect plates of food, there are meals and memories.

Take this photo for example:

In the photo, it looks like we had some delicious pancakes and Minute Maid® berry punch for breakfast. for breakfast. What you don’t see in that photo is the times I had to pour syrup on the pancakes because my five-year-old kept coming over and grabbing my hand so I would help him with whatever “emergency” was happening in his world right then. When you are non-verbal five-year-old with a developmental delay and sensory processing disorder, everything is an “emergency” and I can’t yet tell him “hold on a second, mommy is working.” You also don’t see me
trying to photograph while my 8-year-old is telling me how mad she is because I haven’t washed her favorite black and white bandanna…you know, the one that became the favorite 5 minutes before simply because it wasn’t available. You see…imperfect.

Those days like the one I described above are the ones where I feel like I am a total failure. You know the days. Nothing goes right and it seems like, no matter what you do, somebody’s mom did it better. Well, we have to stop that thinking. We are great parents. How do I know? We have great kids. They don’t get there on their own. Sure, Sally’s mom might make the best homemade cupcakes with sprinkles. To our kids, we give the best hugs, wipe away the tears the best and are just overall superstars.

So, right about now in a post, I would normally share with you the recipe for those pancakes or maybe a delicious new syrup idea. But, that isn’t going to happen because…

These photos were from one morning this week. I was feeling guilty that I was gone for a weekend and didn’t get my normal weekend breakfast with my daughter. Granted, I don’t think she minded too much but mommy guilt is strong sometimes. I know weekends are about to get even busier, though, with the holidays coming too. I didn’t have time to really make pancakes on a week day since she has school and I have work. So, I bought frozen pancakes and paired them with her favorite Minute Maid® Berry Punch.

Did she care they weren’t homemade? Of course not! She was getting a meal with mom and we were making memories talking about her weekend with the grandparents. Oh, and I was letting her have berry punch with breakfast! Her smiles and the “thanks mom” was all I needed as a reminder that I’m #doingood as a parent. It isn’t the big things…it is the little things that we do as parents that make the difference in our children’s world. I think this video is a great depiction of that very idea too.

I love looking at Pinterest and Instagram and seeing all the thoughtfully staged photos and homes. For now, though, I’ll keep my imperfection.

Do you know a parent who’s #doingood this holiday season? Please share a story about them with me in the comments below and join the conversation with Minute Maid® on social media by following @minutemaid_us and using the hashtag #doingood!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Minute Maid®.