My Corner of the World

My teen and tween don't shower very much, ugh gross! My children don't bathe regularly and I'm okay with it. Well... not really, not when I'm sitting next to them, or hugging them good night, or when I have to pass by them, or when they're standing next to someone I admire, or when they're talking to other people we know, or when they're anywhere outside of their bedrooms.... The good thing about knowing that your 12 year old and your 15 year are not taking regular showers is that you can feel secure knowing that they're not in a relationship with another tween or teen. I keep telling myself that if my son had a girlfriend, he would be taking showers because what girl would want to get close to him when he hasn't showered for 4 days and also doesn't think he needs to to use his deodorant. As his mother, I just don't even know what more I can say. My husband and I both say things like, "you don't smell very good" and "...

and feeling like a failure. (I want to make this topic into a regular column.) I think this is something that we women are facing day in, day out. We're all so busy with our kids, our homes, our careers, our husbands, our yard, the decorations, our pets, our parents, you name it. We want to achieve success in every aspect of our lives and we compare ourselves to our friends and think, "She's got it all together and she makes it look so easy. How does she do it?" And then we feel like a failure, envisioning a big giant, red "F" on our female report card. I do it all the time. Feeling like a failure has dominated my thinking in so many ways that I'm not even aware of it most of the time. I've realized recently that I don't accept praise very well. It's hard for me to take credit for things that may seem great about me, when I feel like a failure in so many other facets of my life. Each time I am complimented, for example, I start thinking of...