Practically Perfect (with a giveaway)
I remember talking to Mr Point Five a few years ago about the pressure I felt to be a better housewife and how I constantly felt guilty about not keeping up with “the Jones'”. Who are you getting pressure from, he asked? Well, I said, I feel like I let you down that stuff doesn’t get done around the house when you are at work. I feel bad that some days all I manage to achieve is a sinkful of dishes. I worry that you think I am lazy or not as good as the other wives. So you feel I am pressuring you, he says, by coming home from work? Well, yes, I mumbled. He sat me down and said that he honestly didn’t care if stuff didn’t get done (he took more credit for this statement in that I seriously don’t even think he noticed that stuff wasn’t done when he got home, as long as he could sit in his comfy chair), that all he cared about was that his boys were happy, secure, content and loved. If I spent the day on the couch doing nothing but cuddling and feeding the boys and watching TV, then it was a day well spent in his book. I thought about that and realised that I was putting all the pressure on myself, and that it wasn’t coming from the outside at all. After that conversation I felt a whole lot better and when people came over; I knew I had happy and well loved children and I preferred to show that off, rather than a pristine house.
This is an interesting result of a survey done by Ski D’Lite who set out to explore this quest for perfection phenomena. Refreshingly, they found the tide is changing. Women are shaking the Stepford Wives shackles with over 50% saying they’re done with aiming for perfection.
There’s a lot of pressure out there to be the ‘perfect’ mum – pressure exacerbated by what we see in the media and social media, not to mention the pressure we put on ourselves and each other.
Social Media can be so contrived at times. I wrote this post a few years back about comparing yourself to others on Social Media; have a look, you will see what I mean about judging others’ lives only by what they choose to show on their facebook/insta accounts. Friends can be the same, choosing only to show/tell what they are good at. I often put up pictures on facebook of the awesome (If I do say so myself) birthday cakes I make for the kids, but I will not post a picture of the state of my laundry. I instagram the yummy dinners I make for the hubby and me (not very Jenny Craig though, I will admit), but have I told you that for dinner G Man has eaten a variety of the same five foods for the past three years now? You know what’s funny; he had his iron levels taken by the town Nurse a few weeks ago and she commented that they were excellent and that he must have a very balanced and nutritious diet. I nearly died from holding in my mirth.
Image from www.adriennehedger.com
I am seriously the worlds worst housewife and yet, if I am judged by some of the pictures I choose to share on Social Media, there will be other Mums out there who prolly think I have it all going on and who are secretly coveting my life.
Image from www.NickMom.com
I read a post the other week about 25 Lazy Mum Confessions such as giving your child your phone to take a picture of their “tidy bedroom” and bring it to you so you can check because you are too lazy to get up. Instead of being shocked I was thinking what a totally brilliant idea that was!! I have also let the boys eat lollies for breakfast on a weekend morning and thrown out tupperware I couldn’t bring myself to clean. If I haven’t yet done half the stuff on that list, I have bookmarked it to do so.
Watch this heart-warming video of kids being asked if they think their mums are perfect – too cute.
The Ski D’Lite philosophy is; Practically perfect is the new perfect and should be worn as a badge of honour by mums doing a mighty job to raise happy, healthy, polite kids who love them.
My philosophy is if there is a big clean washing pile in my laundry, it means my kids have clean clothes to wear to school. (If we are having visitors come to stay I try to get this put away and the kids are so confused when the laundry is bare; they don’t know where to look for their clothes! Plus I haven’t yet sorted through the kids old clothes so the clean ones dont fit into their drawers. Really I am doing Mr Point Fives wallet a favour with my clean clothes pile by not having to buy another chest for putting clothes away in) If there are dishes in the sink and stuff all over my kitchen bench, it means I cooked my kids dinner that night (or the previous night as well, whatevs). If there are crumbs under my table, it means that we all sat down together for a family meal (on this note I cannot WAIT until we get our puppy in three weeks; I miss the living hoover). If there is lego all over my floor when you come to visit, it means my kids are making memories a big arse mess by playing and having fun. If there is fresh fruit, veggies and yoghurt in my fridge, who cares if they are organic, super or paleo? Even if G Man only eats two types of fruit, at least he eats them every day and the town Nurse thinks I rock!
If I somehow haven’t managed to do anything for the day but clear the sink of dishes, and I have two boys at home who know they are loved and that I think they are amazing, then I am indeed a Perfect Mother; well, practically perfect 😉
To celebrate the other Practically Perfect Mums out there, Ski D’Lite have given me 5 x $20 Woolworths Vouchers so that you can buy a months worth of Ski D’Lite Yoghurt, (or whatever else you fancy), but now with 25% less sugar, and real fruit, Ski D’Lite is the practically perfect choice for mums trying to get the good stuff in with less of the sugar – easy as! No effort at all – healthy and tasty good stuff for the kids and less guilt for the Mamas; practically perfect!
To win of these Vouchers, simply comment below with what makes you a Practically Perfect Mum.
Congratulations to Maxine, Shannon, Lisa, Amanda and Kit 🙂
* This competition is open to Australian residents only.
* The prize is not redeemable for cash and Two Point Five Kids is not responsible if the prize is not received, although I will make every effort to ensure a successful competition for all.
Oh the practically perfect mum is SO ME! I am a police wife, a mum of three bi-peds and two quad-peds, live in a regional area 500km from the nearest capital city AND I chose to study midwifery, which is a 24-hr student life! I finished work because it all go too much and THEN threw in the third child for good measure. I try to do it ALL and with that process a few years ago I burnt out…. I stopped making lists of what I wanted to do every day and made a list of things I wanted to achieve that week, which included library visits with the baby, walks to the park and teaching him about our veggie garden! But there are still days where I feel guilty that I haven’t baked those muffins for the lunchboxes…that I’ve cooked schnitzel AGAIN and that the husband’s dinner wasn’t covered to keep the heat in! I stopped apologising for the mess in my house because a messy house means happy inhabitants!
My kids are happy and healthy and even when ive been growling all day at them and have grounded them for behaving naughty they will still give me a kiss and a cuddle and be silly with me 🙂
I consider myself to be practically perfect if there is no yelling – from me. By letting some things slide and not fussing or fuming about it we are all a LOT happier. My new philosophy is don’t sweat the small stuff.
Adding one or two pre-packaged school snacks to my children’s otherwise whole food school lunch boxes…….practically perfect.
Okay, so I can’t find my floor! I have 3 kids still at home and a 22yo boy who has left home that can cook, clean and use a washing machine as well as knowing how to budget. Living in various share houses has really opened his eyes, and he now admits Mummy was right when she said ” My job is to train you up to be a responsible, functioning adult not to indulge your every whim”(though let’s face it, I’ve indulged plenty of those too!)
Congratulations on winning a $20.00 voucher from Woolworths to buy a month worth of Ski D’Lite Yoghurt or what ever you wish 🙂 Practically Perfect!
Please email me at lisawilson@iinet.net.au with your full name and postal address.
Cheers, Lisa – Two Point Five Kids.
Thank you Lisa, It was a lovely surprise. I’ve only just found my way back to this post, though I did receive your email and giftcard (still floating around in my disorganised handbag)
Raising 4 boys who are all at VERY different points on the ASD scale and doing it all solo makes me as practically perfect as I need to be. I may not have a tidy house and I’m pretty sure the bacteria colony on my floor has almost reached the point of space exploration but I still have a smile and a killer sense of humor no matter how many battles there are to face or toilets to (constantly) clean.
Congratulations on winning a $20.00 voucher from Woolworths to buy a month worth of ski D’Lite Yoghurt or what ever you wish 🙂 Practically Perfect!
Please email me at lisawilson@iinet.net.au with your full name and postal address.
Cheers, Lisa – Two Point Five Kids.
Oh wow, thanks, emailing now!
I keep my washing pile under control by watching Netflix while I fold but I’m guilty of watching it with noise canceling head phones if the kids are bugging me ?
My Mum is the practically perfect Mum. Our house was always messy but we were always full to the brim with lovely home cooked meals, she was always there to pick us up after school and dropped us there with a smile, we were clean and loved every minute. She went without so we could have more. She was a farmer, a wife, a cook and a mum all wrapped up in one little package. If I can become half the Mum she was to me I will have very lucky children. My dad worked as a farmer and miner to put food on the table and provide a better life for us, not once did he criticize my mum for something that “didn’t get done”. I am pretty based though, they are the loves of my life.
Congratulations on winning a $20.00 voucher from Woolworths to buy a month worth of ski D’Lite Yoghurt or what ever you wish 🙂 Practically Perfect!
Please email me at lisawilson@iinet.net.au with your full name and postal address.
Cheers, Lisa – Two Point Five Kids.
Sitting here after 2 nights camping heaps to do but kids just want to cuddle and watch movies so that’s what we are doing.
Also found out my son will eat meat as long as I call it special ham! Just need to figure out what to call chicken!
I’m such a perfect parent that two of my children didn’t want to come home from their grandparents house today and said mummy is mean so we don’t want to go home! Why is mummy mean? They were asked…… Because we have people coming mummy is cleaning, she only EVER cleans when we have people coming and she said we have to stop making a mess!
Im practically perfect, because my children get there natural antibodies from dirt, fresh dirt and the onlt time I wash the dirt off is before bed, because lets face it, the more time between sheet changes the better
I am practically perfect because I love my step kids like they are my own and will get on the floor and play with them over doing housework any day!
Congratulations on winning a $20.00 voucher from Woolworths to buy a month worth of ski D’Lite Yoghurt or what ever you wish 🙂 Practically Perfect!
Please email me at lisawilson@iinet.net.au with your full name and postal address.
Cheers, Lisa – Two Point Five Kids.
Being practically perfect? Nope.. Not me… My partner? Yes! He came home from a 2 week stint at work – saw me feeding saw the vacuum cleaner sitting there – looked at me smiled and said when I can breastfeed you can vaccum – made me a cuppa and vaccumed the floor & hung the washing that had been through the wash cycle 3 times!
I am practically perfect ……… I am a cop, mum of three,including a 6 month old, we owns and run our own business. For the last three years i was lock up keeper in a small country town with two little ones.
Im on 10 months maternity leave, my house is a mess
and we are always five minutes late, but i am getting to go to every single kids sporting and school event. Im home every day when they get off the bus.
But when i go back to work my kids will see the importance of working for what your given. My husband and i show them the meaning of work ethic.
So when we have time together we make the most of our memory making. My kids are resilient and have learnt to adjust to things as they change . Im practically perfect parent who may not have a tidy house but whose beautiful children have empathy for other people understand that sometimes other people need their mummy more than them.
My kids know how to wash themselves, their clothes and dishes, clean and tidy the house. They know how to water and mow the yard. They know how to bake and cook dinners. My kids look out for eachother and miss eachother when someone’s out. My 6 kids are aged between 19mths and 14yrs. I reckon I must be practically perfect at this parenting gig. Raising capable, independent kidlets. I’m always watching but not interfering with their problem solving.
Congratulations on winning a $20.00 voucher from Woolworths to buy a month worth of ski D’Lite Yoghurt or what ever you wish 🙂 Practically Perfect!
Please email me at lisawilson@iinet.net.au with your full name and postal address.
Cheers, Lisa – Two Point Five Kids.
I’m practically perfect because we are all still alive at bed time each night!
My kids are fed and bathed. They have clothes on their back and a roof over their head. To me as long as you and the kids are happy that’s what makes you practically perfect. I do my housework but I try not to stress (although sometimes I do stress anyway), I take things at a steady pace so I still have time to enjoy my children growing up while they are still young.
Sometimes being the perfect parent means choosing the right time to use those ‘perfect’ mummy skills!
Yesterday I sat down and wrote an itinerary of all the fun places we would go and all the fun activities we would do each day over the kindy holidays. Today’s activities were go to the gym and go to see the petting zoo at the local shops, instead I have woken up with an aching body, a throbbing headache and a crazy sore throat and instead we have each written down two movies we want to watch today and have begun making our way through them, on the couch, with no intention of getting out of our pyjamas. This practically perfect mumma will need to leave all that perfect, fun, parenting for another day!!
I am NOT a perfect mum! I make many mistakes, often say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, feed them the wrong thing. I leave everything last minute, I rush them out the door, I make decisions they might not like. But my 2 boys are my world. I do everything that I think is best for them. I love them with such heart it makes me ache to think of how much I love them. I go above and beyond to give them what they need, not always what they want but definitely what they need.
I would fight tooth and nail to keep those little munchkin smiles on their faces. This is a family of 3 ( plus 3 furs) but we have enough love to make it a whole one.
So I think not being perfect makes me a perfect mum ?
Wish the internet and u were around 15 ears ago. Very stressed I was .
I am practically a perfect Mum when:
The washing only goes through the machine once
The 6 seater couch can actually seat 6 people and not 6 loads of washing
Dinner is on the table at 6 and everyone (4 fussy kids) is actually willing to eat what I dish up
Normal days are chaos but seriously they are alive, healthy and somewhat functioning members of society 😛
I am practically perfect when my child is asleep with a full belly, freshly bathed & it doesn’t matter that a copious amount of dirt was consumed during the day or the number of tantrums had made me crying in the corner too!