10,000 HOURS

A theory by Malcolm Gladwell claims that it takes 10,000 hours at a task to become an expert. Donald has been busy putting in 10,000 hours of coding. :) I've been been pondering motherhood. A quick calculation figures that I've had about 44,000 hours at this task. Figure in all of the hours for each child and it's about 70,000. That's not very many compared to most mamas, but according to the theory, I should be an expert x's 7....or 4 depending on how you look at it. I'm not an expert. Not even close. I don't think I ever will be. 

Just yesterday, we were in town running some errands and I had told the girls before we left that we could go to the park if they behaved themselves. We hadn't even left the house and they were already acting like class A brats. It didn't look too good. The whole trip was pretty much the same and I gave them several warnings about not going to the park if they continued their horribly embarrassing behavior. We grabbed some lunch and then it was time to make a decision. I had told them that they needed to behave in order to get a trip to the park. They didn't behave. They really needed the fresh air and exercise but if I took them to the park, I wouldn't be standing true to what I told them before we left. My mistake was that I put stipulations on going to the park. I really wanted to take them to the park. I was torn.

In the end, we went straight home. 
Win for realizing my mistake. 
Win for being consistent. 
Win for the long naps both girls took.
Lose for not going to the park.
Sometimes the hardest choice is the best one. 

I'll never be an expert mama but I'll do my best to be a good one. :)