You know those times as a parent when you need to retreat to your designated hiding spot? Yea I said it, parents have hiding spots or better yet, “sanctuaries,” (mine is the bathroom or the imaginary line I have between the kitchen and dining room while I’m drinking my “mommy juice”). Having one is a benefit to our mental health.
Those moments where your world feels like it’s literally trying to back you into a corner and you end up on the floor in the fetal position (did I say that out loud?). Yea like that.
It happens. I’m not even going to lie. It happens to the best of us.
I’m just going to say it…We don’t always have our shit together. We really don’t. I have my days where I need to remind myself of that. Especially being a single mom of 4 beautiful, active but opinionated children. Children, thankfully, that want to participate in EVERYTHING they can literally get their hands and/or feet on. But some days too much for good ol’ mom over here. The sleep deprivation is real in these parts.
A lot of days, I try to be Supermom but I have to remember I was born on Earth not Krypton. We as humans just don’t possess those kind of powers (I wish, especially the flying aspect). Let me not get distracted LOL. You get my point. What I will say is, it’s okay if you don’t have your shit together everyday. Whether you’re a single parent tackling parenting life all by yourself or married parents working together for the greater good. Days are going to get tough.
I’m reminded of a scene from the movie, Sex & the City 2, where the character, Charlotte, you can tell is having one of those “stress” days with her two young daughters. One is in her high chair crying her eyes out about God knows what and the other one is literally screaming, Mommy, on repeat. And good ol’ Charlotte is doing her best to keep it together, while trying to get some treats together for a party at her daughter’s school. You can tell she’s trying to align her chakras. Then she reaches her breaking point; her oldest daughter gets paint on one of her favorite skirts. Ugh!!!! At that moment, the frustration rises up like the Huns coming out of the snow in Mulan, and she retreats to the kitchen pantry. Here come the water works. The very familiar water works that every parent, especially moms, have when life just becomes too much. That “backed into a corner” feeling.
I get it. 100%.
I literally cried with Charlotte because the feeling is all too familiar.
PSA: parents!! we are completely justified to have crying moments, to get frustrated, to want those 10 minutes to yourself, to even tell your child/children to leave you alone. Respectfully of course. All of that is okay.
There is no “Hitchhikers Guide to Being A Perfect Parent” (copyright March 2018, Tai Turner). That’s the beauty of parenthood though. The ups, downs, lefts, rights and zigzags. With every stressful moment, there will be 10 times the beautiful moments. The moments where you just sit back and can’t believe how you made it through the past 24 hours.
The moments when you just look at your child/children and your heart swells.
Those moments.
We got this, guys.
Life Lessons from a Novice 