Yes, I'm that kind of mom.

This morning I'm home alone with our youngest three, the 3,5, and 6 year olds.
They are having a blast.
They are taking turns "showering" (aka, flooding the bathroom and pretending they are Noah's animals.)
I think it's great, because I'm that kind of mom.
Yesterday they were playing in their designated mud hole in the back yard. Yes, they have a place where no grass goes, that they're allowed to dig and fill with the hose and play trucks, pigs, adobe hut builders,etc. because I'm that kind of mom.
I am the kind of mom that wants my kids to learn by experiencing life.
I am the kind of mom that refuses to purchase battery operated toys for kids under 4th grade. (Just can't get around those video game systems for the older boys. )
That said, they do get regular turns on the computer on age appropriate internet sites, because I'm that kind of mom too.
I'm the kind of mom that will sleep in a tent for 5 nights so my kids can dig in the dirt in a different setting, but only if that tent site has indoor plumbing.
I'm the kind of mom that lets my kids watch too much t.v. on occassion, or even semi-regularly if they're too young to read...as long as it's educational t.v.
I'm the kind of mom who picks out four books a year for my chapter readers to read.
I'm also the kind of mom that lets them bring home comic books from the library.
I'm the mom with the revolving bedroom door. I've never had a kid sleep with me who's started kindergarten yet. And that open door can lead to some interesting discussions with my nocturnal pre-teen.
I am not the kind of mom who is good at "laying down the law."
I am the kind of mom that allows natural consequences, even when they hurt to watch.
My kids vent about friends, school, and their siblings to me, because I'm that kind of mom.
They say one inappropriate word about their father and they are ice-stared down, because I'm that kind of wife too.
I get up on stage to have flour dumped down my shirt because I'm that kind of mom.
I am somebody's mom to at least half the elementary school, because I'm there so much...because I'm that kind of mom too.
I am or have been a soccer mom, a football mom, a baseball mom, a homeschool mom, a PTA mom, a cookie mom, a dance mom, a scout mom, AWANA store director mom, room mom, stay at home mom, working opposite shifts mom, and more.
I am a mom who has had preschool age or younger children in my home for the last 12.5 years, and still have 1.5 years more.
By the time my youngest starts school, I'll have been a mostly at home with kids mom for 14 years.
And I'm sure there will be more labels ahead, choir mom, drama mom, maybe band mom...maybe not.
It really doesn't matter, because I will always be there to help my kids succeed, because I'm that kind of mom.