Clearly, 'They', never spent a weekend with a four year glued to their side demanding CONSTANT attention. Because, that's SO not awesome.
Sure, THEY were right having a child is awesome. It's also waaaaaay hard, requires a shitload of patience and selflessness, the majority of your free time and a MUCH stronger will than your child...
The past four days were so packed full my son constantly wanting my attention that it was hard to catch my breath sometimes. From chasing after him to answering four billion 'Why?' questions (A MINUTE!), to making sure he and his dad were not terrorizing the neighborhood, to planning and serving meals (ALL DAMN DAY!) I never truly had any long stretch of time to relax, alone.
By mid-day Monday, I was out of my mind with my family, the state of the house, the meals, the constant questions, monitoring, and attention my son requied. I called my sister, mother of two boys (9yrs, 10yrs) and told her I was going to win the Asshole Parent award for being so tired of being a mom!
She laughed and told me that there is NO ONE in the world that can last four days with a four-year-old and not be exhausted. She proceeded to tell me about her state of mind with her boys and how we were in the same boat, and most likely with every other parent enduring a 4-day weekend at home with their child.
Our talk made me feel instantly better. Sometimes, I feel like such a shitty parent for getting so annoyed and exhausted with constant family stuff. I feel like I am being ungrateful for this gift of motherhood.
So where the hell am I going with this?
Thanks to my sister talking me down from my wanna-be-super-mom pedestal, I stopped freaking out, and finally caught my breath. I really felt so much better. And so, I want you to know that if you too feel like an asshole parent for getting annoyed, tired and short on patience too sometimes, it's ok. Forgive yourself. You're not superhuman, so don't hold yourself to superpower abilities.
