I think I’m a good mum 75% of the time and 25% of the time I’m ok but could do better. DD is happy, confident, bright and, for a two year old, pretty polite and well behaved. I’m loving and affectionate towards her. She is clean, has a clean home, clean clothes, decent food, and a range of toys, though we are trying not to give her too much in the way of material things. We spend time playing with her and keeping her active, and she is read to at night and cuddled in until she eventually falls asleep. I am quite patient with her a good chunk of the time, listen to her, but I’m firm when I need to be.
However.
She spends longer in nursery than I would have liked (4 long days after grandparent childcare fell through) and while I don’t believe this does her any harm and she loves it there I do feel guilt that she spends so much time without us.
I am not always patient and there are times when I’ve snapped at her and felt awful afterwards.
I don’t always enjoy playing and will often try to sneak off to do something else. I spend too much time on my phone and while I’m trying to limit this there are times when I’ve been distracted when she’s trying to show me something or she’s spent too long watching tv. There are definitely days when her diet isn’t brilliant because we’ve been lazy, and she has more crap to eat than I’d like because I’m not assertive enough with her grandparents. I really need time to myself sometimes but feel guilty shutting myself away and leaving her with DH despite her asking for me. I suppose feeling some sort of guilt at some point is a requirement of a good mother. This thread has inspired me to try and be a bit better!