Before having kids, I had very idealist visions of what our lives would be like. Our family would be the perfectly healthy family. What we ate would be carefully scrutinized. Fresh fruits, tons of veggies, lean meats and whole grains would be on the table at every meal. What we did during our leisure time would also be closely mapped out and monitored. Lots of fresh air, exercise and family outings like picnics, hiking and biking together would consume our weekends. And of course, things like keeping the kids spotless and myself looking hip and put-together every day made the list too.
Yes, I had high expectations for being the perfect and healthy mom. And I’ll admit, I even went so far as to judge other moms who weren’t all that healthy (because, you know, before you have kids, you think you know everything about parenting). To those moms that I judged, I apologize. To my former neurotic self, I apologize, too. Because not only did I not follow-through with most of those rules, over the course of the last 15 years, I did some pretty unhealthy things that I swore I would never do. More »
