My kids are fighting for the four hundredth time today. They are crying after the ten minute wrestling match that I warned them wouldn’t end well. They are playing a game of who can stand in front of mom and hold their finger to her face the longest before she freaks. This all happens within five minutes of coming home from work, daycare and summer camp. This is a song and dance most parents know very well.
Parenting is incredibly hard. No book in the world can explain it. No experienced parent can help you understand the half of it, no matter how hard they try. It’s so hard and yet so many of us are doing it every day and kicking parenting’s ass. I know a few of these people and I’m sure you do too.
My friends, and fellow mothers, consist of social workers, nurses, marketing experts, teachers, casino executives, bankers, stay at home parents – the list goes on and on. I have had the opportunity to speak to most of them lately about this journey we are all on together. Guess how every conversation starts? With a big sigh. It’s the truth. We lament, we relate and we encourage. We feel better after the jam session and are ready to don our armor once more to fight the good fight of raising good, honest, respectful and generous people.
We all come from similar yet slightly different backgrounds. We all wanted to be mothers. We all had very different pregnancies. The boys outweigh the girls that were born to us. We all have different ways of parenting. But one thing is the same. We show up every single day determined to do better than we did the way before.
When I look at this amazing group of women, I see Pinterest worthy birthday parties thrown for their children that I could not even pretend to create. I see playdates scheduled that I had nothing to do with. I see sandwiches cut in shapes of butterflies or teddy bears that I would have loved to have as a kid. I see day trips planned for summer that may not be easy on the bank account, but because there is a will, there is a way. I see forgiveness between parents and children if the day was an epic fail. I see mothers who are very hard on themselves for losing their patience, or for yelling, get up every morning, get out of their own way and represent the best way they can. I see a group of selfless mamas who are working their tails off to make their houses a home and their kids’ lives as happy and fulfilled as possible with a level of swagger I can only dream to have.
THAT is more than enough. THAT is incredibly badass.
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About the Author
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