What is MY label?

So, by now everyone has seen the TIME Magazine cover.  And with the birth of my 3rd child approaching - vaulting me from the "Average" family to the "Large" family categroy - I've been thinking about labels.

The TIME Magazine cover says (tauntingly) "Are you Mom enough?"  Well, that depends.  Most people think I'm SuperMom.  I homeschool, live on a farm, DIY a LOT, cook my own meals, I even put laundry on the clothesline to dry.  But I'm not really SuperMom.  I don't think anyone is.  So here is my list of labels that I've given myself, for your own enjoyment:

Procrastinator - to the max!

Cheapskate - why do you think I DIY so much?  I can't stand paying good money for something I could do myself. (But if you reference label #1, often DIY projects are done at the absolute last minute)

Cesarean birth mama - And please don't ask me if I've considered a VBAC.  Please.  These are my girly parts and although the risks are low, you are not the one who has to deal with them, my husband and family are.  So the decision was left up to Mr. P and he said No.  And I said OK.
Besides, when I look at my first C-Section, God's hand and plan were all over that.  I didn't have a choice, even had I been 'better informed.'  It came down to the health of my baby, and there's NO way I'm going to risk that.  

Complaining Breastfeeding mama - I breastfeed.  Because of label #2.  I don't care what kind of stigma that puts on me, I am NOT paying top dollar for formula that I can make myself.  Besides, breastfeeding not only saves money on feeding the baby, it also saves money on diets and exercise.  I burn calories like no one's business while BFing.  And it's convenient.  I can't tell you how many times I've walked out of the house with my infant and forgotten a diaper bag or baby food.  Thankfully, I can't leave home without my breasts.  

That doesn't mean I particularly like it.  Yeah, when the kids were little, we bonded, had moments, whatever.  But I can tell you that it hurt like heck for the first month, and once they got their teeth it hurt like heck after that.  There wasn't anything magical about my experience, except fact that it saved our budget. And I don't follow WHO guidelines - my kids (and I) all quit at about 10 months old.  Something about the freedom of a sippy cup was too irresistible.  And I was thankful.
Not-really Attachment Parent - I love my kids.  LOVE them.  R even co-slept with us until she was 7 months old.  But the reason she slept with us was because we were desperate.  The kid wouldn't sleep otherwise.  B was completely opposite and could not figure out why these people needed to be in his bubble.  He just escaped the teeny swimming pool, he didn't want to be smothered!  R, at 5 1/2, still likes to be carried, B is only carried if it benefits him in some way (ie, he can see something up high, he can go somewhere he normally couldn't go, etc).  Both of my kids had really bad separation anxiety, surprisingly, B was worse than R.  I tried the whole, give them time thing.  But here's the deal.  Both of my kids loved their classes at church once I left them there a couple of weeks.  In fact, only 4 weeks after I decided to just let him cry it out, B kissed me bye-bye and about ran to his class by himself.  I don't purposely choose to hurt them, but it is also my job as a parent to put them in slightly uncomfortable, but safe, situations to help them understand the world better.  If I leave, but always come back, they know I'm always going to come for them.  If I never leave, they wouldn't learn that lesson, right?
Besides, mama needs a break sometimes.  Seriously.
Non-environmentalist Cloth Diapering mama - I cloth diaper.  See label #2 for my reason (are you noticing a pattern?).  We used disposable diapers with R, and cloth with B.  We estimated we saved about $1000 when it was all said and done.  Umm, heck yes.  Now that baby D is coming, I've spent about $100 on a few little diapering supplies and she's set.  Umm, heck yes!  I don't care who you are.  Diapering a kid from birth to potty training for $100 is worth the investment.  Notice I have not mentioned the environment, landfills, etc in this statement.  Because if cloth diapering were more expensive than disposables, but might save the spotted, flying fruit spider from extinction.... I'd get the disposables.

Lazy Home Educator - Seems like an oxymoron, doesn't it?  I mean, how can I possibly be lazy if I'm teaching my kid to read, write, add, and subtract every.  single.  day?  That's because I choose curriculum that plans everything out for me.  If it's not already divided by weeks (only by lessons), I just take the number of lessons, divide it by the number of weeks we do school and Voila! I have weekly lesson plans.  Seriously folks, I love teaching my kid, but if I had to come up with lessons on my own, I'd have been the first one in line to enroll her in public Pre-K.  Thankfully, many curriculums know many moms like me and make it easy for us :)
I also don't do enriching field trips every week.  Sometimes I count going to the grocery store as a field trip.  Hey, it's economics!  Look that banana is from Guatamala - geography!  You get the idea.  We do a lot more field trips when we're off school, simply because it's easier to just pick a day that everyone's in a good mood and go than to try to squeeze it in on our 'catch-up' day during the week.  

Now, that being said, when there's something totally AWESOME that we need to do - like the Nina and Pinta being a couple hours from our house - we drop everything and go.  Totally worth it.  But there just isn't stuff like that every week.  So I don't worry about it.  

"I'm in the zone" Digital Scrapbooker - Mr. P hates it when I get in the zone.  I will scrapbook for hours a day for a week straight.  He has no access to the computer, except in quick spurts when I go potty. I will forgo every responsibility and feed my family pizza and hotdogs for a week, make them wear the same thing every day, etc.  It's this horrible little bug in my brain that can't be eradicated unless I scrap.  Thankfully these spurts only come a couple times a year.  I'm just not one of those people who can sit down and be creative for 20 minutes a night.  It has to hit me, and then I can't stop.  I neglect my family in the name of "Preserving Memories."  

I did this little exercise 1.  to disprove any myth that I can do it all, because I don't.  and 2.  to give you permission to make fun of yourself a little.  Be real with yourself.  It's ok.  You don't have to have the politically correct answers for everything you do.  I will never forget the expressions on the faces of the couples in our breastfeeding class when I answered the question "Why do you want to breastfeed?"  with "Because it's FREE!"  Their expressions were a mix of shock and understanding (but not wanting to say it themselves).  It's ok.  There's at least one other person that has the same reason as you, and that's totally cool.  Be honest with yourself and forget the rules.  

God created me and created my story.  He wired me to be just as I am and I just have to embrace it and use it for His glory.  And though it might seem ugly to some, to others, it's refreshingly real.  

So quit judging yourself.  Be you and use the unique way you were wired for God's glory.  And sometimes, that is just being a non-judgmental ear to listen.