We all want to do the best we can when we become a parent, but I think the perfect working mom is a very lofty goal. In fact, I don't think there is such a thing as a perfect parent at all. I am not even sure how you would define this. One might say you have to do everything right to be considered "perfect". I don't think there is a working mom out there who feels like she does everything right. I'm sure there are some who feel like they do everything wrong, but the reality for most of us probably lies somewhere in between.
There are so many decisions we are faced with on a daily basis, and it can be hard to know if we are always making the right one. The bottom line is, you have commit to the decision and follow through. If the result is not what you were hoping for and you feel like the decision was wrong or you made a mistake, then you need to learn from it and move on. If you have your child's best interest in mind, then chances are most decisions will be the right one even if you don't feel like it at the time. This comes into play a lot as kids get older and start to do more and more things with friends and away from you.
When your freshman in high school wants to go to the mall with her friend and be driven there by the friend's older sister who just got her license 3 weeks ago...what do you say? If you are still at work and get this call, first of all, you should be happy you got the call and she didn't just go without asking. You may be apprehensive because of the new driver part of this, but you have known the friend and her sister for years. You say yes, and all goes well...great. You say yes and there is some problem, you feel like you made a mistake. You say no and your daughter is mad, but there is a problem when the friend and sister go, so you feel like you made the right decision. You say no, your daughter is mad and everything goes fine, now you feel like you made a mistake. For many scenarios you will feel like you have a 50% chance of getting it right. While better odds would be nice...you just have to do what feels right at the time. If you ultimately think you made a mistake, then you will make a different decision next time.
The other tidbit to add here is that I firmly believe as your kids get older and enter the phase of going out on their own, driving, etc; you need to let them spread their wings. This means mistakes, but it also means learning experiences for parent and child. I often describe my now adult children as "capable", and I feel like that is one of the best things we can do as parents...give our children the tools to be capable to deal with situations they encounter when you are no longer making decisions for them.
