Lots of thinking lately about the concept of 'good enough'....you know, as in am I a 'good enough' person, mom, friend, daughter, sister, worker, companion, citizen.....not just 'good', but good enough.
And I'm thinking that I'll never, ever really be good enough. Not by my standards anyway--there will always be something to improve, something to do better, an ability to be kinder to someone.....
Don't know why this upcoming Easter holiday made me think of this, but it has. I am remembering how my mom dressed us 3 girls up in pretty pastel dresses, brand new white shiny Payless shoes and big, floppy, ribboned hats for Easter Sunday. The Easter Bunny typically left a pretty new purse for each of us and we all felt very prim and ladylike, even when hunting for Easter eggs in my grandma & grandpa's yard. Picture perfect, or so it may have seemed. Did that make it good enough? Especially if you scratch the surface of that picture and remember that appearances can be deceptive and not necessarily representative of how good or bad life really was then?
Fast forward 30 years and now I'm the mom. We'll dress up for church and attend Mass, but there will be no new clothes or shiny new shoes. My daughter won't wear a floppy hat and we won't be anywhere but home for our Easter Egg hunt. Doesn't mean it's less than, does it?
When you scratch the surface and see that we'll spend the day together, eating good food and enjoying each other's company, that should suffice for good enough....though I wonder if my kiddos hear the stories from the other kids and, in comparison, have their own thoughts of 'good enough'. I'd like to hope I'm raising them to see past the smoke and mirrors of appearances, but they're kids--and let's face it, sometimes with kids what they see IS their reality, regardless of accuracy.
Wishing everyone a very, very Happy Easter weekend filled will all that makes your life good enough. Or, as a good friend of mine said, Happy Keester!!
2 comments:
Oh, man do you strike a nerve!
(But first may I just say - I flove the Keester Eggs!)
I was thinking the very same thing this morning. As for Mass? I'm totally failing there. (And yes, the Italian Catholic guilt is in full swing.) Family traditions? Yeah, notsomuch. My Grandmother and Mom always made Ricotta Pies at Easter - we looked forward to them ALL year - and this year my son gets a cake I brought home from a bakery. (omg, I am so ashamed.)
But, y'know...he's happy. We'll be with family today, and there will be good food and lots of love and fun. And sure, my sister and I will look at each other and sigh and lament the fact that neither of us got our acts together enough to make the Ricotta Pies for our kids...but there's always next year, right? As long as love and laughter is the one tradition we don't screw up, I think we're doing okay. ;)
Happy Easter!! xoxo
OK, so the day wasn't horrible....wasn't great, but not horrible. What I learned: the kids don't know what's inside my head as far as expectations go. They were thrilled with a french toast brunch and didn't give a rat's patootie that it happened two hours later than I would have liked. And walking along the lake at the park where they could conduct 'science experiments' to their heart's content was just as much fun as an over-crowded easter egg hunt with a bunch of strangers (Ok, more fun). Maybe I should take lessons from my kiddos on how to just let go and enjoy the moments, eh?
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