Every now and then I ask myself, “How am I doing as a parent?”

“Am I too lenient? ”

“Am I too strict?”

“Are the kids learning anything?”

“Am I a bad a parent if I serve raw carrots five dinners in a row?”

“Am I failing if the kids have stayed up until 10pm every night this week?”

In these moments I look for answers to these questions. Sometimes the answer comes in the form of a peaceful feeling. Sometimes it comes in the form of pathetically tired and cranky kids. No matter what, the answer usually comes in one form or another.

This week, as usual, I was trying to gauge my level of parenting. I’ve been struggling with finding a new chore system to contribute to the survival of my sanity and the survival of the house this summer. I’ve also been wrestling with puzzling together a curriculum for this coming year. In the midst, I’ve been a little neglectful of the kids, allowing too much TV and DS playing, Otter Pop eating, and general time wasting.

In an attempt to compensate for my lack of task mastering, I sent Jack off to complete some of his Bear Scout requirements. One of which was to make a list of important emergency telephone numbers and post one by each phone in our house. Here is what he came up with. (Please disregard the penmanship. It IS summer after all):

Should I be worried? Needless to say, I’ll be stepping it up a notch this week.