Fortune Cookies for Mothers

As I was putting Kitten to bed while nursing Muffin last night, I was thinking about fortune cookies (don't ask me why). You know the ones with the universal truths which are applicable to pretty much anyone (yes yes the ones which become a whole lot funnier if you add "in bed" at the end of them). Well I was thinking that someone could make some specially designed for mothers since I know that mothers experience some of the same things regardless of where they come from.

Here is an example:

"You will feel inadequate"
"You will wonder why you can't figure out why your child is crying hysterically"
"You will wonder whether you could have done things better today"
"...whether you could have given your kids more attention"
"...whether you could have raised your voice less often"
"...whether you have scarred them for life"
"...whether they will end up being mass murderers and blame it all on you"

As for the last one we all know that we will get blamed (well hopefully not by mass murderers). That's because no matter how hard we try we cannot perfectly meet everyone's needs at all times simply because this is impossible. Such as when you are reading your preschooler a bedtime story and your infant keeps unlatching from your boob and screaming bloody murder. It is simply impossible to meet the needs of both kids at the same time in that situation so you end up sticking your youngest's face in your boob (he misses the nipple and thus latches on with the strongest suck you can ever imagine on another part of your boob causing you to scream out in pain), you then fumble and close the book, losing the page you were reading so your oldest then screams out in indignation because he can no longer "see the story" (like he hasn't memorized each image of the book since this is the 468th time you have read this story in the past week!). So basically you end up with 2 frustrated kids and feeling completely inadequate and guilty... in bed ;-)

Maybe one day you will find a grandmother fortune cookie which will tell you:
"You will find peace with all your parenting flaws because you will see your children going through the exact same things. It's called LIFE." I wish all of us that wisdom, I just have a feeling it does take a lifetime to get there.