Who Do You Know?

Have you ever met a fellow mom whose knowledge, daily activities, and energy overwhelm you? I had such an encounter yesterday when we invited friends over for a playmate. While the kiddos played the mom's chatted. By the time they left I was exhausted! The other mom wore me out and all we did was sit and talk.

She must be one of the most productive people I know. She takes on parenting with %110 of her energy while always researching and studying her next move. One of her areas of expertise is education however she is not nor was she ever a school teacher. But she has researched, studied, and even visited every school from 45 miles east of us to 60 miles west of us (do you know how many schools that is?). She knows all about different teaching methods from Classical Education to Montessori. She knows the creed, motto, and mission statements of all the schools and has really dissected the words to absorb all their meaning. And she began this journey before her first child was born. Meanwhile, when I was pregnant with my first child I spent ample time picking out fabric for baby bedding.

Wow, talk about being on top of things.

Now, I will admit things are different around here. In other areas everyone attends public school. This is not the case in our town. As soon as you announce you are pregnant people start asking you what you are going to do about school. Will you home school, go the private school route, or how about the duel language program in the public schools? I know families in all of these and I have asked questions and looked into all of our options...or so I thought.

But yesterday I was given so much information about all of these. And for the record she was not slamming any of these she was just relaying the results of her research. And I am thinking to myself, am I suppose to know all this stuff?

She humbly apologized repeatedly for monologuing. But I kept her going with my questions. Although the amount of information she gave me was overwhelming I still wanted more.

After she left I began to do what all moms do and what all moms know we shouldn't do. I began to compare. The thoughts ran through my head, "Have I been a lazy parent? Why have I not done this much research on the subjects we talked about? Why don't I already know all of this? What do I now do with this information?"

Then I thanked God for all the women in my life that know so much more than me. I thanked him for giving each of them their particular passion so I can learn from them. I thanked him for all the times they have overwhelmed me because that means I am taking on new information. There are so many women I know that make me a better mom just by knowing them. They are not here to make me feel bad about myself, they are here to teach and encourage.

I pray that I do not underwhelm other mom's but overwhelm them with the things I am passionate about. And I guess there were things I researched too while I was pregnant that others did not. And no surprise, they are the things I feel passionaltely about.