TRIAL AND ERROR

This blog is not meant to insinuate that parenting is easy or that I have all the answers. That is definately not the case. I am just a middle aged mother of three grown children that has learned a lot during my years of raising them. Like most of life's experiences most of it was through trial and error. So if some of my trials and errors and the knowledge I have gained from them can help any parents out there today, then that is all I want.
My daughter, that is my oldest child once remarked after I had decided to let her younger brother stay out a bit later, "Mom, when I was his age I wasn't allowed to stay out that late." My response to her, while holding back a smile was, "Yes dear I realize that. But you were my test model." We both laughed.
However, it does have some truth to it. We do learn from each child different methods that work and some that don't. And then again, each child is uniquely different. I cannot say enough that raising children is trial and error, after all, isn't life about trial and error? You try something, it doesn't work...you try something else and you go on to learn from your mistakes.
Parenting is no different. We aren't perfect. Nor would we want to be. We are human and we make mistakes, but if we learn from them, then as the kids say, "All is good."
My daughter once told me that as she and her brother were walking down the hall at their highschool that they overhead two teachers talking. They were commenting on what nice respectful children they were. When she told me this my response was, "That must have made you feel really good." My daughters response to me.."It's you that should feel good about it Mom, after all you raised us." Now I ask, what better compliment can a mother get from her child than that?
I plan to add my own personal experiences and trial and errors to this blog on a fairly daily basis. I would love to hear some of your own experiences and mistakes you've learned from. Maybe we can all learn from each other?