The perfect mum

Is it just me or does anyone else have to regularly encounter ‘perfect mums’? I can't help but stare with envy, awe, admiration, anger and bewilderment at some mums at the school gates. At 8am, they're dressed immaculately with full make-up on, their hair is beautifully blow-dried and they float with an air of self control and elegance.


Oh and their daughter’s hair is in French braids, of course.


Meanwhile by 8.45am, I’m hoarse from ‘motivating’ Jack and Holly to put their coats on, my hair is wet, only one eye is made up and I’m rushing two slightly disheveled children towards school with my handbag open and banging into people with an air of pure panic around me!


Am I the normal one or are they?


I would consider myself a pretty organised person. I have a family planner in the kitchen and I write everything down. At night, I lay mine and the children's clothes out and even remember to defrost dinners or at least have an idea what were going to eat the next evening.


Despite this, I always seem to have to rush in the mornings and generally throughout the day! I don't know whether it’s because I get up too late or whether I'm just not one of those 'perfect mums'. I’ll never be able to compete though or even copy because it’s just not in me.


These 'perfect mum's' are also amazing cooks and probably Cordon Bleu trained, no doubt. They also know a lot about fine wines and don't just buy the ones they recognise from repetition like me. They would gasp in horror at the mere thought of a pasta stir-in sauce or a tin of hoops! There’s no way they would dream of buying a packet of sauce; they would make it from scratch with ease.


In fact they always cook from scratch, always have the right ingredients and it always tastes delicious. Their dinner parties are impressive and talked about for weeks, while mine consist of one dish that takes 20 minutes to make and has no more than five ingredients.


But you know what, in hindsight, maybe no one actually is The Perfect Mum. Maybe these women just look the part and act the part but lack in areas where I might excel. I like me as a mum and I’m proud of what I can give and how I give it. Maybe The Perfect Mum doesn't make their children laugh like I do; maybe they don't let their children relax like I do; maybe they don't play as much as I do; maybe - just maybe - I’m better than them in some way or at least as good?


I don't know but it does give me some comfort to know that other mums are more like me and that the 'norm' is actually chasing your tail and your children, looking confused and disheveled. I know that I’m not alone. I know a lot of mums like me, some who work outside the home and some who don’t. They’re honest like me; not pretending that all the jigsaw pieces fit, just admitting that no matter how in love we are with our children, sometimes it’s very hard to juggle it all.


It's impossible to be perfect the whole time, I know that. So I try to do my best every day and hope that my best is good enough for my two little angels.


I may not be the 'perfect mum' but I’m their mum and I absolutely adore them.