Are You Crazy or Lazy?

Here are ten ways that you can tell if you are a "crazy" mom or a "lazy" mom:

1. A "crazy" mom spends every night gathering together the things her children need for the next day. Then, she proceeds to pack their backpacks and lunches. A "lazy" mom spends some concentrated effort in training her kids to be responsible for their own things and to help pack the lunches. Then she will never have to pack a backpack again.
2. A "crazy" mom does everyone's laundry. Then, she spends hours folding it and putting it away. A "lazy" mom teaches her children to do their own laundry. When her children are toddlers, she teaches them to fold washcloths. By the time they are 7 or 8 years old they are doing their own laundry and she never has to do it for them again.
3. A "crazy" mom cleans her whole house herself, every week. A "lazy" mom trains her kids to do the cleaning. If she has many children, she won't have to do any of the regular cleaning herself.
4. A "crazy" mom goes through her house, picking up glasses, dishes, shoes, dirty socks, and toys, in an effort to keep the house clean, in spite of her children. A "lazy" mom calls the child to pick up after him/herself. She will even resort to dishing out extra chores to kids who won't stop leaving messes around. Her goal is to never have to pick up after her children again.
5. The "crazy" mom encounters an overflowing trash can and takes it out herself. The "lazy" mom has assigned one of her children to be in charge of trash and calls him/her to take it out. She even has a child to take out the recycling.
6. A "crazy" mom cooks a wonderful dinner, sets the table, serves the meal, clears the table, and does the dishes herself. A "lazy" mom has a cook's helper, a table setter, and a server. She sits down and enjoys her meal. The dishwashers take care of the cleaning and the washing. Who are these helpers, you may ask? Why, her children, of course. She took the time to train the children to do these chores and then assigned the jobs to them.
7. A "crazy" mom drives her children to sports, lessons, meetings, and more. A "lazy" mom arranges her life to stay home as much as possible. She limits her children's outside activities to one, or at most two, outings a week. She finds that she and the kids are happier at home and many special projects get finished.
8. A "crazy" mom often feels taken for granted and may begin to resent her family's dependence on her. A "lazy" mom is free to do little things for her kids, out of love, and to honor them. Things she used to feel she had to do, now become thoughtful favors for the ones she loves.
9. A "crazy" mom may find her children are not equipped to face adult responsibilities when they leave the nest. A "lazy" mom can rest in confidence that she helped build maturity in her children and gave them the skills they needed to build strong families of their own.
10. The "crazy" mom loves her kids and is just doing what she thinks she should. I hope she reads this article, and starts being a little "lazy". The "lazy" mom, well, I guess she isn't really "lazy" at all, just smart.

Note: © Copyright 2001 Theresa Gibson

To learn more about being a Lazy Mom, read our series: Parenting the Lazy Mom Way.

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