Do I Need Someone to tell me I am Doing a good Job?

The health visitor was out to do our 6-9 month assessment and she was really pleased that Aoibhin was hitting all her milestones and was impressed with all her skills. My health visitor is lovely and we chat away and I was telling her all about my impending weekend away and how it would be the first time I would be leaving Aoibhín for an extended period and she commented 'dont be so silly-you've done an amazing job' and basically told me to go and enjoy myself..of course when she said what a great job I was doing I swelled with pride and almost (almost ) got a little teary. Then it made me think. Do we as mummies need that validation from others?. Do we need to hear from others that we are doing a great job, that we are giving it our all?.

For me personally No I don't.  Was it nice to hear-absolutely but I don't need to hear it..because I know I'm doing a good job-and a bloody hard job at that. I give my absolute all every single day, I do my best every day to make sure Aoibhin is happy, healthy and knows how loved she is. Even at the end of the day when I long for bed I love that I get to get up in the morning to do it all again, even through the exhaustion.

So, yes Its lovely to hear it from others but that one simple comment has made me realise that I don't need approval or validation from others. I'm parenting my daughter the way I want and I know I'm doing just great. So, all you mummies (and daddies) just remember that you are doing great and everything you do and give to your child is enough. And the only person you need a clap on the back from is yourself.

One smile from Aoibhín lets me know how good a job I am doing.