This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Minute Maid and DiMe Media. Minute Maid will provide prizing for the contest below. Minute Maid is not a sponsor, administrator or connected in any other way with the contest – and all opinions are my own.
I thought I knew guilt, I thought I knew worry and then I became a mother and I REALLY got acquainted with guilt and worry on a whole new magnified level because it is no longer just about me, it was now about how I am affecting these beautiful children I’m lucky enough to call mine: mis hijas queridas.
The guilt is real and powerful and intense because at the end of my life I just know that what will matter the most to me is how I did by my kids. In the present, I want my children to walk through this world certain that I love them with every fiber of my being and that even when they aren’t in my sight they are in my heart.
So if you were to ask me how I think I’m doing as a mother, what do you think my answer would be? Ugh, my answer is that I fail at it every single day in a myriad of ways: I lose my temper sometimes, I raise my voice when it isn’t necessary, I rush instead of truly savoring every single moment, I don’t cook as much as I should and so on.
I would get really, really down on myself about it, but the thing is that I’m lucky because my children are nowhere near as hard on me as I am on myself and that’s the upside of my mom guilt, that it belongs to me and isn’t really a true reflection of how my children feel about me. I know this because I can see it in the way their eyes light up when I pick them up from school, I can feel it in their hugs when they snuggle up against me, I can hear it in their voice by the way they say “mamá” because wrapped inside of that title is their love.
My children make me feel incredibly special, but I want all moms out there who worry about how well they are doing by their children to know that they are special too and that they are #DoinGood in the eyes of their kids. Don’t believe me? I have proof!
Grab a pañuelo and get ready to get your lagrimas on as you check out this new video from the good gente at Minute Maid to see the difference between how mothers judge themselves and how their children judge them. It’s powerful, emotional stuff.
You see what I mean? As a mother this really makes me feel so much better about my flaws and perceived shortcomings. Please share this video with friends and family in your life who could use a reminder that they, too, are doing a great job as a parent because kids don’t always tell you what a great job you’re doing even when they think you are doing a GREAT job.
Tell me about someone you know who is doing a better job as a parent than he/she might think.
Post a comment/short story for a chance to win a Minute Maid prize pack, including a $50 Visa gift card to continue “Doin’ Good” with your kids (or give it to someone you think could use it to keep Doin’ Good with her family). Follow the instructions in the widget below and keep on #DoinGood!
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My sister in law. She a mom/stepmom of 7 children. She’s so wonderful and loving to all of them. I really admire her.
My sister is doing an awesome job being a mom of two!
My sister is doing great with her 4 kids
The lady in Baltimore that jerked her son out of rioting.
My sister-in-law! My niece is 13 months old so definitely a handful, but my SIL handles motherhood with grace and humor!
My son and his wife. They are parents of my first granddaughter and still newbies after 6 months. Doing an awesome job!
My neighbor is.
My daughter is doing an amazing job as a mother to my two grandsons! They are very close in age and she handles everything so well!
My sister is doing a wonderful job as a single parent.
My son is doing a great job raising his son. He has custody of his and I am so proud of what good dad he is.
My sister is doing a great job. She has 4 kids, one of them has cancer, and she’s been so brave and supportive, I just don’t know how she does it. But I guess it’s just like in the video, we judge ourselves and think we are not enough or doing good enough but truth is, in the eyes of our kids, we are doing just great.
My BFF and her 5 kids
My sister is being an awesome Mom to my niece and nephew! My nephew is sick at this time, and she is so patient with him and so loving!
My best friend worries a lot, but she’s doing a great job.
My friend that I didn’t think would have children is doing an excellent job.
My daughter and son-in-law.
My best friend. She recently married into a family and is an amazing stepmom but constantly worries that she isn’t enough for the kids.
My friend Victoria, she raises her grandchildren and now took on a friends 3 kids. She is doing more than I think I could handle.
My best friend was so nervous being a first time mom/single mom. Her son is now 5 and is smart, happy and healthy.
My friend is a great mom! She balances 5 of her own children and works full time as a teacher! She is amazing!
My mother may be doing a better job as a parent than she may think. Thanks for the giveaway!
My friend is a single mother, working full time, and going to school!
my husband, he really tries hard to be a good dad
My niece is such a good mom to her little ones.
My friend and neighbor. She is amazing!
My sister with her 3 children – including a teenager who knows everything and a son with Tourette’s. Her husband is in the military and is not home a lot. She is doing a great job! – Kimberly O
My sister is a wonderful mother. She has great instincts but is continually second guessing herself.
My mom. She constantly puts others before herself without a second thought. She’s my favorite person.
My mom did a great job as a single parent. It was very hard to raise two kids alone while working full time.
My niece has five kids, and although it’s hectic she is very involved in each of their lives.
My step brother! He is an awesome Dad!
My friend is doing a great job being a single mom
My kids are both better parents than they think. They juggle work, school, and many activities with grace.
My neighbor is and she is doing a good job
I think that every parent I know is probably doing a better job than he/she might think because most good parents have doubts about whether they are doing things right.
my wife is a great mom. She feels bad yelling at them, but she has so much patience. she gives and gives
my sister
My best friend! She is such an incredible mom to my godson – making sure he is thinking ahead and planning for life, especially now that he is going to make her a grandmother!
sksweeps (at) earthlink (dot) net
My mother always thought she was never good enough but I think she did a wonderful job
my sister does a fantastic job as a parent, better than my parents did 🙂
I have a friend who homeschools and raises her two sons alone and she’s doing great.
I have a few friends that are doing wonderful as single parents.
My friend is doing great with her twins.
My friend Jeni always tells me how guilty she feels about having to work long hours to make ends meet and not spending as much time with her husband and kids as she’d like, but to me (and everyone else we know), she’s Superwoman and doing an amazing job of balancing work and home.
Geoff K
gkaufmanss at yahoo dot com
My Mom. I’m not a kid anymore but she still nurtures me!
I have a friend who is a single parent.
She’s a fantastic mom but tends to think she’s not doing enough.
thank you
form name Barbara Montag
My sister is a great single mother but sometime doubts it.
My niece is a single mom of 3 who works and takes care of her kids and I think that in spite of her situation, she’s #doingood and being an amazing Mother and providing the best she can yet I don’t know if she realizes it.
I think my friend is doing an awesome job as a single mom.
probably my mom. she thinks she’sa horrible mom but she’s doihg the best I can. and I love her:)
My Mom. I am now 40 and my brother is 43 yet she still questions every decision she has ever made. She worries so much about whether she did/is doing a good job with us and our children and she has no idea how amazing she is, no matter how much we tell her.
As a single parent, my sister-in-law is doing an excellent job raising her kids.
My friend Tia!
My cousin just became a new mom and shes doing really good as a single parent and shes in school!
Thanks for the chance to win this
My friend from college is doing a great job. She and her husband both work retail and juggle their schedules to take care of their child. They are doing a great job and spend quality time with their child and teach her good values.
My daughter in law is doing a beautiful job.
My sister is a much better parent than she may think she is. She has raised two boys into fine, caring young men who are independent, hard working, and respectful. She never pretended to be their best friend and they absolutely ADORE her now.
Someone I know who is doing a better job as a parent than she might think is my sister. She is an amazing parent, but feels like she doesn’t spend enough time with her daughter, but it just isn’t the case. My sister carries a lot of guilt about being a single parent, working two jobs and going to school, but she fails to see what a superwoman she is and how happy and adjusted her daughter is!
My best friend. Many people doubted her but she is an amazing parent.
my daughter waited a long time to have a child and she is absolutely wonderful with her.
My best friend is doing a fantastic job being a parent. She raised her two kids on her own, both have great jobs and are wonderful people 🙂
My daughter is a better mother than she thinks she is. She is doing great for being a first time mom.
My sister in law is a fantastic, hard working, hands on Mother who does so much and asks for so little. She’s #doingood and I’d love for her to know that.
I have a friend who is raising three boys. Her husband died a couple years ago. She doubts herself all the time, but she really is doing a great job.
My brother is doing a better job than he thinks.
Oh I would have to say my little brother! He is a single father to 3 and does such a good job at it!
My mom is doing a better job than she thinks! She doesn’t always get the credit she deserves for raising me and currently raising my teenage sisters.
my friend that is raising several small kids is doing a great job and I hope she always remembers that
A relative who moved from an area with a lot of violence, her kids are a handful, but she tries very hard.
my best friend
My niece is doing a great job and just may not realize it. She had a surprise 3rd pregnancy that she and her husband weren’t planning on but a couple years later and I think she’s #doinggood managing and raising her kids.
A good friend of mine worries about having to leave her kids while she’s at work, but her kids are great and love the time they do spend with her!
My sister, she is a wonderful mom!
One of my friends is doing a better job than she thinks.
kport207 at gmail dot com
My daughter is a great mom to my Grands.
My daughter in law is a much better mother than I was and I thought I was pretty good Rosanne
I would have to say my older sister who has two kids, she sometimes doubts herself, but she is one of the best parents I have known.
I have a couple friends who have the most wonderful children. I never wanted kids until I was around them.
My sister is doing a fabulous job despite the challenges she faces daily with her health.
My best friend Julie she is the most wonderful, kind and loving Mother
to her son
Cathy Truman
My daughter has arthritis and feels bad that she can’t get down on the floor to play with her daughter. It’s all the loving things she does for her daughter that matter.
My best friend Maxanne is amazing as a mother.
My coworker is a better mom than she thinks. She is doing it on her own with her two young kids. She doesn’t understand that they love her unconditionally.
My sister is doing a great job as a single mother of two, Thank you!
Many of my friends are great moms.
My Dad is doing ebtter than he thinks hw is.
My sister is doing a terrific job raising her 3 daughters.
My husband does an awesome job as a parent, despite the circumstances that life has handed him on that.
My cousin whose son is autistic
My sister is doing a great job as a mom. She only has 1 little one and is doing great!
my best friend. she never thought she would be a mom and had never been around kids. she is one of the best moms i know.
xdanimarie(at)yahoo(dot)com
my mom is the best mom ever. she has always been there for me
My neighbor across the street. She has 2 children, one on the way and a dog.
My sister is doing an awesome job with her two children. She has an autistic son, and she handles him so well. She gives them lots of love!
My daughters are awesome moms. Very proud of them!
My brother.
My neighbor with three kids is doing a better job than she thinks.
My daughter who is selfless and a single mom who works hard.
My sister in law is doing a better job as a parent than she thinks she is
addictedtorodeo at gmail dot com
Ashley C
My sister is an amazing mom and she doesn’t give herself enough credit. She has three daughters and their dad has chosen not to be in their life. She’s doing amazing at work and is building a career working full time. No matter how tired she is she always takes the time to make sure my nieces are taken care of on every level and that they are excelling in their school work. They look up to her and she is their hero. I wish she would just stop and look at the incredible job she is doing.
My mom! She was a single parent and feels she didn’t give us enough time since she was working. My brother and I never went without, we were always fed, and we always felt loved! We both turned out great too!
My sister is a single mom of 2 daughters. She always questions how she is raising them but she’s a great mom;)
Jmatek AT wi DOT rr DOT com
my niece just became a mom and she is doing an awesome job but shes not sure
My mom, she sometimes thinks says she didn’t do a good job with us for reasons concerning my sister that I won’t go into, but she has been an amazing mother
My mom, she is the best mom I could ever ask for!
My sister…she always doubts herself..but she is the best mother I know!
My husband is doing a way better job than he thinks. He was terrified of becoming a parent, but he’s just the best dad!
My sister is struggling because she’s going through a divorce and has a 7
year old son. She always tells me her worries and problems, but I think
her son is transitioning fabulously. She doesn’t give herself enough
credit.
My sister – 5 kids who keep her busy and are turning out to be great people!
My husband.
My niece is doing a great job raising her kids
I think my husband is doing a better job as a parent than he thinks he does. He is not as patient as he thinks he should be but I know he does so much for our kids that they do not even realize.
My friend is doing a great job as a new mom even though she thinks she is doing terrible.
My cousin is a great parent!
My coworker, 2 young girls and works 50+ hrs a week
My brother is doing amazing with his two boys, though his newest little one Parker has been quite the handful. I have NEVER seen my brother more patient and loving through his own exhausion
I’d have to say my neighbor. She has two kiddos and runs them all over the place. And she worries so much about how their doing in school and how much time she spends with them. They’re great kids. She’s doing just fine!
My Sister who is a single Mom to a 12 year old, She does such a great job.
My friend is doing awesome job
my sister is a better parent than she thinks
My friend at work
My friend she is doing a great job.
I think my sister-in-law is doing a great job raising my little nephew. She is a wonderful and patient person who always has the best interests at heart.
My daughter is doing a better job at being a parent than she gives herself credit for.
Everyone says that about me all the time. I just always feel like there is more I can or should be doing.
My Sister.She is amazing.
My daughter became a mother for the first time in January and I know she is doing a better job than she thinks.
My daughter with her sons and stepson
Myself… I think I’m too hard on myself sometimes. I have to take a breather sometimes and say wow, not too shabby!
My sister is doing great with her two boys!
My sister-in-law has two little boys – and she is doing a great job.
my friend is doing such a good job, but she worries about everything, I did too when I was raising my kids
My single-mom, and full-time nurse, neighbor, Diana M.!
My brother and sister-in-law.
My cousin is a young single mother and she is dong a great job way better than she gives her self credit for
My sister-in-law is raising for kids one set of twins after the loss of my brother last year suddenly and I could not imagine taking all of that on myself after losing my husband. She is a warrior.
My sister in law. She does a great job with her 2 boys, and going to school!
Okay if I say myself? When my son was very small, I felt like a complete failure as a mother. I knew something was wrong, but I had no idea what. It took 6 years before we got the diagnosis of “autism.” (Which was considered very rare in those days. I had never heard of it then.) When he was 8, right before a move, I took him back to his doctor for one last visit. The doctor, upon reviewing his files at the examination, told me that if he didn’t have the records in front of him, he wouldn’t believe it was the same child. He also told me “You’re doing a great job as a mother.” I burst into tears, asking him to please repeat that. Twemty-six years later, the memory still chokes me up.
I think my sister is …she’s a single mom to a child who’s father wants nothing to do with him
My daughter in law is a very good parent. she has the patience of a saint.
My daughter is doing an amazing job!!!!!!
One of my best friends who has a child with mental disabilities.
my niece is doing a great job, although i’m sure she feels bad since she has to work, but as a single mom she has no choice (like me!) and shes doing a fantastic job!
My best friend, she is going through a divorce and feels she isn’t doing well for her kids but she is the best mom I know! She’s awesome!
A friend of mine, whom recently found herself a single mom of three toddler aged boys. Between keeping a job, keeping her house straight and trying to be the best mom to her three boys. she’s absolutely a much better mom then she gives herself credit for!
My friend who was a partier, never cared about college/going to class, sleeping around, but she had a kid and turned a 180 on her life. She gets NO help whatsoever, but she’s going to school and been on the dean’s list, living in a community that’s strictly for mothers who have to work OR go to school to live there, no males can live there.
My daughter Kyra is doing an amazing job, she is such a good little mama.
My friend who’s husband is deployed.
My best friend! She had a baby 7 months ago and I think she was really nervous, but she’s an incredible mom! A total natural.
My best friend worries a lot about her parenting, but she’s doing a great job.
My brother is doing a great job with his son.
I would have to say my sis-in-law. There’s been many family medical issues & she’s the family’s rock!
My aunt is a single parent who is awesome for taking care of her 4 kids!
My brother – he’s raising a child that’s not even his for a mom that abandoned her
My sister is doing a better mom than she might think she is. She is a single mom of 3 and sometimes has to work 3 jobs at a time. She does it without any help from anyone and does not realize just how strong and loving a person she is for doing it.
It’s my daughter, she is doing a great job raising her daughter. Thanks.
My wife, she worries she isn’t spending enough time with our little boy and even though she only works 3 days a week (as a hospice nurse) she wants to spend more time with him to make sure she can raise him and protect him best she can. I think she is doing wonderful and am happy to have her.
My cousin. She’s is an outstanding mom, and she has the most respectful kids in the world.
My best friend has two young boys and they are the best boys! They open doors and pull out chairs, such manners and best of all, they put their toys away! She is a great mother and I am proud to say she is my daughter’s Godmother.
Thank You for the giveaway…a friend of my wife from college lost her husband due to an illness about 18 months ago; when she & her two kids were here for a visit earlier this spring I was amazed at how well she was doing: kids are well adjusted, delightful to be around, and she has gone from a stay at home mom back to a working professional almost seamlessly…such a strong, resilient, caring mom.
My sister is doing a far better job than she thinks.
My sister who has 4 kids. they are difficult and she doesn’t have much help. She has a great attitude, love and patience. She is a great mother.
My friend Sherrie tends to think she’s not doing enough, but she’s great with her two boys.
Thanks for the contest.
slehan at juno dot com