Proud moment

I believe I have mentioned before that Gavin if by far my most challenging child. But for all the grief he may give me at home, at least I now know that he truly does behave himself when he is away from me.

I have been helping out at the school book fair this week. Today was Gavin's day to go and as we were checking out, a parent came up to me and said "So, you are Gavin's mother". Uh-oh--this could be good or bad, I couldn't tell from her voice. So the woman introduced herself as Joseph's mother (I had no idea who Joseph was). She must have noticed my puzzled expression because then she said that Joseph was in the 4th grade and he was Gavin's library buddy. Each week the kindergarteners pair up with an older student who help them pick appropriate books and they have the same buddies all year. Well, the woman went on to tell me that Joseph talks about Gavin ALL the time and tells his mother what a polite little boy he is and how nice he is, etc. She then said "And really, I am not just telling you that because you are standing here. He honestly loves your son. You should feel very proud of him". Of course, I am always proud of my kids but I can't tell you how satisfying it is to hear others say it. Motherhood is most often an overlooked job. There are no performance reviews, no feedback (unless it's bad usually), no pats on the back. To hear someone compliment my child's manners and behavior is all the validation I need that I'm doing a good job. Not that I need validation but, you know, society has certain ideas about what life as a SAHM is like. It's not all bon-bons and daytime TV. It is damn hard work. And I think I'm pretty good at it.