Today’s thankful: My parenting skills aren’t under close scrutiny

I saw in the headlines today that Kate Gosselin, former reality television star, is under attack by parenting groups because one of her kids acted like a regular kid. Apparently, when Gosselin was picking up her kids after school, one of them crawled under the van WHILE IT WAS RUNNING! Yeah, okay. I really fail to see the big deal here. First, kids sometimes do stupid things. Second, she was firmly in the driver’s seat of said van, presumably in control of the vehicle. The parenting groups are saying she should have gotten out of the car to collect the kids. Whatever. In my humble opinion, she was just acting like a regular mom. The kids are big enough to get into the van under their own power, and she was allowing that to happen. I know how giddy I was each time one of my kids was able to get in the car without my assistance. Aren’t we trying to raise these tiny people to be independent adults? Well, you gotta start somewhere. I guess the bottom line for me is that I am not a perfect mother, but I do try my best to keep my kids safe. As for Kate Gosselin not getting out of her van to collect the kids, I don’t have enough information to get on her case. If she did, in fact, take a head count and make sure all eight of her babies were buckled in before she took off, there was no harm done. All eight of them could have crawled safely under the van if she counted before taking off. Without that critical bit of information, I am inclined to say give the girl a break. I am not a perfect parent and don’t expect anyone else to be, either.