What are Moms good at?

If ya haven't noticed yet, I have a penchant for teaching. I like to teach.

I feel like I learn things in depth while I teach because of the processing required in my own brain in order to try to transfer it to someone else's brain.

Oh, the satisfaction in seeing the student's eyes brighten upon realization that they now understand!

Sharing knowledge is quite unlike sharing something tangible. If I were to share my apples with you, I would have fewer apples for myself. However, in sharing wisdom with you, I recognize growth in my own intellect. Love is the same way -- we used to say it's like jelly: ya can't spread it around without getting some on yourself.

Teaching reminds me that I know something. It holds me accountable to act according to my knowledge. I have declared to the world the extent of my expertise and thus I feel compelled to at least try to make my behavior match it.

Perhaps this penchant for teaching is why I wanted to homeschool my kiddos.

One day, a month or so ago, I was soliloquizing about how much I love to teach and what a joy it was to be a mother because moms get to teach so much to our children.

"Moms are good at teaching things," I declared to my children.

My seven-year old daughter retorted, "No, moms are good at yelling."

Today, I proved her true, much to my disgrace.

I always say that well-fed, well-slept children have a higher chance of being well-behaved children. Days like today make me realize that it isn't just about children. Well-fed, well-slept mommies will find it easier to be well-behaved mommies.

I didn't get much sleep last night, and I haven't been eating particularly well.


And so I yelled today. More than I have in the past year, I think. All the yelling took my children by surprise (which gave me a sense of... what? satisfaction? further disappointment? justification? hard to say.)

I heard myself yelling -- I'm sure the neighbors heard me, too -- and made myself take a few deep breaths. I apologized to the sweet ones who had been the victims of my loss of self-control. My three-year old cried as he hugged me and told me he forgives me. I didn't *quite* cry.

After all, I had to have self-control now.

So this post all ties together because I teach my children not to yell. I teach them to apologize when they make mistakes. I teach them by example. Moms are good at teaching things.