How to Supermom?

I must begin by disclaiming that I in no way profess to have mastered the art of the elusive "Supermom." On the contrary, I believe there is no one on earth more in need of training on this topic than me. If there is anything having four children has taught me, it is that I clearly have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.

But I had an epiphany this past year, specifically marking the ten year anniversary of my official induction into the hallowed halls of motherhood. When my daughter turned ten this summer, it suddenly occurred to me that she has passed the halfway point of her time in our home. She only has eight more years before adulthood. Only eight years for me to teach her everything she needs to know to be a strong, confident, independent, well-adjusted, and most importantly basically functioning adult in normal society! All I've done so far is teach her how to walk and talk! Yes, those are important, but what about how to get mustard stains out of laundry, sauté onions, drive, drop off dry cleaning, make dentist appointments, perform basic first aid, clean out the refrigerator, potty train small children, fix a garbage disposal, call a plumber, pay a plumbing bill, balance a budget, buy a house, mow the lawn... I can't even finish this list because my head is spinning from ticking off my own to-do list. And these are practical implementations only. What about patience, selfless service, kindness, seeking inspiration, finding answers to prayers, sustaining a marriage, and all the really important stuff??? Yes I'd like to hope I'm teaching her and my other children through my example, but (a) what if they're not absorbing all the stuff I'm doing "behind the scenes," and (b) do I really want them to rely on my super stellar example to teach them how a responsible adult ought to behave??

In an effort to collect evidence and examples from the real-life process of learning everything about parenting, I'm beginning this official record. I'm doing it for her, and for my other children who follow, and for generations after that, in hopes they might find it helpful, or at least learn from my mistakes. I'm doing it publicly in case others feel the same way, or may even find some help among these pages... or at least feel better about their own lives by comparison! My whole life for the past ten years has been and will forever more be the process of learning how to be a supermom - or die trying!