Part 1: Mom Probs…..
"What’s for dinner?" "But, I don’t like that. Can you make me something different?" "When will it be ready?" "I’m starving, and haven’t eaten all day (aka, the last couple of hours)!"
"Can you iron my pants so I can wear them tonight? Oh, and wash my uniform for the game tomorrow?"
"Can you help me with my project that I haven’t even started? It is due in the morning, and worth half of my grade?"
"I need money for this and that, plus more just because."
"I need a ride here, there, and everywhere. Can you take me and all of my friends too? Their parents are busy."
"Did you order the thing I (never) told you about? Today is the last day, so you need to do it now (most likely the morning)."
"Can you buy me a new phone charger? Sibling 2 stole mine (aka left it at a friend’s house)."
"Where did you put my backpack? Can you find my shoes? I have to leave (actually they should’ve left 5 minutes ago)."
MOMerella!!!!!
The struggle is real, folks. Moms are BUSY! It’s not just the normal busy everyone experiences either. Think of the word mom as a verb, an action word. She cooks, cleans, drives, reads, opens, closes, packs, folds, sorts, runs, yells (bad example), creates, organizes…..the list could go on and on. Oh, and those are just things she does for her kids. Literally, a mother’s work is never done.
Once you become a mom, everything changes. Simple things like running to the grocery store turn into a big ordeal. It usually takes longer to prepare for the trip than it does to actually go. When your baby becomes a toddler, you feel like you are going to lose it about 90% of the time. That adorable child soon begins to walk and talk, and the cuteness slowly fades. They never quit talking and making noises. Now that they are mobile, they get into everything, except the expensive toys you keep buying for them. You start to get tired and irritable and fantasize about sleep, showers, and simply sitting down for 5 minutes.
Eventually, your child gets older and will go to school. You start getting excited, dreaming about all the free time and how you will spend it. WAKE UP, because that is not going to happen. Now you have to start doing fundraisers, going to conferences, field trips, and class parties, plus helping kids with homework every night. As soon as you feel like you are getting the hang of all of this school mom stuff, there’s another fundraiser, a project due, and to top it off, your kid will somehow manage to either get strep throat or head lice at school. As soon as you make it through all of that, it is time for all the moms to join PTA and volunteer most of their time at the school. This will lead to other momma drama. For some reason, moms feel compelled to compete with one another. They watch to see who brings the best treats to class parties, who has lunch with their kid the most, and who gives the best teacher gifts. This becomes another job, but the good news is, it’ll be over soon enough and the next phase will begin.
As those awkward years start to fade, a confident new teenager emerges. Suddenly they will be “too cool” for everyone and everything, especially you. They will discover hidden talents like rolling their eyes and telling you how annoying or unfair you are, while staying current on social media via their cell phone. In all fairness, they “literally cannot miss a text, tweet, insta pic, Snapchat story, or FB post because they would just die.” It is a miracle I made it through my teen years without all the constant social media updates from my friends. I mean, how did they know where I was going and who I was with? How did they know if I “liked” their new haircut with bangs or their new Guess jeans? How’d I know their cat jumped over a cucumber without a video post? Wait, I remember...I actually had to interact with them. I talked to my friends in person, face to face. Our status update was handwritten, folded nicely with a “pull here” tab, and passed from person to person in the school hallway between classes. If it said “for your eyes only” or “top secret” then it was basically a private message.
Eventually, your kids grow up to become adults. You’ll look back and wonder where the time went. Soon you will realize how many times you said “I cannot wait until my kid can…” without realizing you should have just “let them be little.” We are so busy, rushing through life, stressed out. Even when we aren’t stressing, we’re still rushing time because we are excited to see what’s next. Sadly, we end up wishing we could press rewind, or at least make time slow down.
As moms, we get so caught up in having a clean house and making sure everything is done, but in the end, those are not the things that matter. Who really cares if all the toys are picked up, put up, and organized, or if your house is perfectly clean? Forget about trying to make everything perfect and spend more time playing with your kids. So what if your house isn’t spotless, you were busy making memories.
Not only do you need breaks from your duties, but you also need “me time.” Taking 15 minutes could make a huge difference in your attitude. Take a quick shower, read a book, indulge in a power nap, or watch some TV, just make sure you take a break. Employers give their employees breaks throughout their shift, so why shouldn’t moms have the same privilege? Figure out how you can make it happen; you deserve it. Think of a way to take a mommy timeout to reduce stress. Ultimately it will help you be a better mom. You kids will certainly love having a calmer, more relaxed mother.
I recognize that it takes a village to raise a child, and moms do have help; some more than others. I understand that some children are raised by someone other than their parents, and I respect anyone willing to take on such a great responsibility. Furthermore, I know there are many amazing dads, like my husband, that do just as much or more than the moms. My intentions are not to discredit them or what they do. I am simply writing about motherhood and my experiences as a mom.
