It’s okay to rue the day you’ve just lived.  And thank your lucky stars that it is over.  We know you are still the greatest, Mom.  And it is also okay if there is not one moment of that day in which you lived completely and joyfully in the moment.  Or one moment wherein you can point to yourself as being a super mom on top of her game.  Even heroes get a day off.  So should you, Mom.  It’s okay.

It’s okay if your children think you are the meanest mother ever for hiding their i-pods in their father’s underwear drawer.   Everyone is entitled to his/her uninformed opinion.  It’s also okay that your opinion trumps all others.  Really, it’s okay.  It’s also okay that your children are subjected to such tortures as setting the table, helping younger siblings with piano practice or wiping the dishes.  As long as you realize that asking them to make their beds can place you in the Meanest Mother Ever category on certain days.  You might want to avoid that one.  But if not, that’s okay.  Because you can reverse the ‘meanest ever’cycle when the time comes and to your advantage.  Believe me.  I know whereof I speak.  And so do you.  Kids are mean too.  And it’s okay to freely admit it is so (by telling them once in a while).

Seriously.  It’s okay, Mom, to serve your children micro-waved K.D. that has been cooked into oblivion.  And it is your right as a mother to insist that everyone outwardly appreciate and verbally declare their appreciation for such.  It is okay to also send your children merrily on their way to evening activities with a tub of yogurt, a banana, crackers and cheese.  Do not let your child tell you this does not constitute supper.  Because we all know that it darn well does!

It’s okay to be the laughing stock of your child’s music class because you forgot to do the music review with her.  You will remember to do the review with her after the class is over, while you are driving home.  Better late than never!

And it’s also okay to forget to pick your child up at the evening birthday party to which she has been invited, even if that means she is the last one to go home.  And even if you asked the hostess before-hand what time the party is over.  DO NOT APOLOGIZE FOR THIS!   These things happen.  Pretend you planned it this way and that you were having a nap.  Even if you were really killing yourself driving from one community to the next at lightening spend.  Because you really forgot!  And it’s also okay to forget sometimes.  Your daughter knows you love her.  One tardy slip is not going to convince her otherwise.

It’s okay to sometimes end the day wondering why you and your Hubby ever thought making a family the size of a baseball team was a good idea.  Everyone questions their life motives once in a while.  And if you cannot think of one good reason why there are four little monsters roaming your house, eating your food and monopolizing your household technology, just remember.  If we all waited for one good reason to do the best things in life, some of us would wait forever.

So then.  It’s okay to write today off, to throw in the towel and cross your fingers for a better tomorrow.  Tomorrow is another day.  Full of promise, full of hope.  And the best we can wish for is that it will be okay.   Because if we aim small and think glass half-empty, usually things end up being better than we think.

And of course.  We all know that’s okay too.