…if you feel like you are failing, reach out. Because I promise, someone will relate
And then they become kids, actual people, and they back chat and present new challenges and you wonder why everyone else seems to be so calm and loving with their kids when you lose your shit at them for being rotten little horrors. Why do kids listen to their parents when my kids literally ignore me until I yell?
And again, the finish line moves. And continues to move.
If there is one thing that I’ve taken away from this parenting biz, it’s that parenting (in fact, adulting) is just one long marathon. A marathon where people are yelling at you and pulling your clothes and throwing food at you and where aid stations contain wine.
And to make it easier, we need to talk more. Now, I’m not going to walk around introducing myself as, “Hi, I’m Rhonda, I had two miscarriages and also sometimes I don’t like my kids”. Mostly because my name isn’t Rhonda.
But I am going to stand up and say, I get it. I too struggled to get pregnant. It wasn’t as easy as wham-bam-thank-you-maam, a la MTV. I have had two miscarriages and I think about them all the time. My pregnancies weren’t a Beyonce-esque maternity shoot. My tummy looked like a cube, not a basketball. My feet, however, were very basketball-y.
And my kids ignore me. There are days when I don’t want to parent.
And yes, I feel like I am failing.
But I also know that I’m not alone. You are not alone.
Ladies, let’s talk more. And men, too. About the yuk stuff. AND the nice stuff. Let’s brag when our kids do well, and laugh when things go funky.
And if you feel like you are failing, reach out. Because I promise, someone will relate.
Re-published with permission by Fantastic Mrs T, a mother-of-three living in Arrowtown, New Zealand, who gives a non-sugar coated view on the everyday chaos of raising three kids. You can find more on her website and her Facebook page.
