A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Mom-Daughter Group

I had an idea (yes, I know, sometimes I have too many of those). This was a good one, though. Get together a bunch of women with similarly aged kids, and use each other as resources for raising health, confident, happy daughters. And we have started to do that. We've discussed bullying, gone bowling, and made pottery (just last night!). We talked about the girls being in a non-judgmental, non-school, non-popularity based group to give them a safe place. But what I didn't think about, was that I have many insecurities as a mom. (Ok, not just as a mom, but we're talking about the mom-daughter group so I'll stick to that). And in order to get the most out of the group, and the other moms, and the other girls, I have to be willing to ignore/bypass those insecurities. This is a good thing, but hard. And it needs to be a conscious decision. If I can let go of those worries and anxieties (at least a little bit), it frees me up to enjoy my kids, other kids and friends. It allows me to hear what other people have to say, and not hear it as a criticism. I'm not other moms, and their kids aren't my kids, so while we may all approach things differently, I need to remember that I want the best for them and their families and (hopefully!) they want the same for me. It's kind of a Buddhist loving kindness perspective on parenting. I think it's extremely valuable to remember that, though. In a time when we measure so much about our kids (between school, sports, etc.), we are all really just trying to do the best we can. What I hope for the Mom-Daughter group is that we all (girls and moms) can find resources, friends, and help each other to figure out where we are going and how we can each take our path to get there.