There's No Perfect Parent

You may look at this picture and say,"Aw wow, she has such cute kids. She looks like she has it all together." Well yes they are, but... I'd like to tell you more about this year's Picture Day. 

The day started in a mad rush to get the kids to school. I had volunteered to bring dinner to a family in need and they lived 40 minutes away. In my mad rush, I completely forgot that it was Picture Day! So Baby Boy's hair wasn't styled in his normal "Rocker Dude" fashion (as he likes to call it) and Tiny was wearing a hand-me-down three times over Tinker Bell shirt. I'm pretty sure the remnants of breakfast could still be detected on their cheeks. 

When we pulled into the drop off line, one of the ladies opened the car door and said,"Oh Tinker Bell. That will look really good for Picture Day." 

"Wait. What? Picture Day is today? I didn't dress them appropriately." 

(Picture Day is the ONE DAY mom's get to over dress their kids in exactly what they want.)

"Yes but it's just preschool so they'll be okay." 

I hesitated but agreed because I didn't have enough time to drop off the meal and go buy a new dress for her. 

As I started to drive out of the parking lot, I thought, "What am I doing? These are my kids and they have to come first." I decided to try and run to a store real quick for a new dress.

Luckily, TJ Maxx had the cutest dress you see Tiny wearing and surprisingly I found a really cute hair bow to match. I drove all the way back to the school and dressed her. The photographer did a fabulous job getting them to smile at the same time. 

After the pictures, I took off again to the family's house. They were so appreciative of the meal for their family of four. I smiled and looked completely happy. But really I was stressed to the MAX! 

I made it back to their preschool with one minute to spare. Wow! So much for a relaxing stress free day. However, when I got these pictures back today I saw that all my efforts weren't in vain. How cute are these two! And the story behind this picture will always be in my mind. 

The moral of the story is ...there's no perfect parent. Mistakes happen! However, your kids should always come first. Don't sweat the small stuff. In the end my kids were happy, the family was blessed and my heart was satisfied for serving the Lord. 

"If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”

Romans 12:7-8 NLT