Is it wrong that I sometimes tell my children that they're a lot of work?
How about if I have been know to say to one or the other (or, on occation, both at the same time,) "Dude(s), you're wearing me out."
Because if it is, then I'm a bad mom.
I can often be heard telling them that they're behavior is driving me nuts. Or that I'm tired and need five minutes so please, please, just let me go into this bathroom, close the door and NOT have to hear a tentative (or boisterous) knock ten seconds after I close the door.
Motherhood is awesome. It really is.
It's also exhausting and I wonder how much I'm scarring my daughters when I tell them how tired I am just from caring for them.
Am giving their fragile little egos a complex or am I setting them up for less disappointment later in life when they face their own challenges and remember me telling them, honestly, how much work everyday life can be?
I hope it's the latter, of course. I hope I'm just letting them see that I'm human, that I need a break sometimes and that I can come back for more after just a little, very little, alone time.
See, I don't remember my mom ever actually telling me that I was a lot of work. But I do remember her being tired, sometimes a bit snappish and often saying, "I'm just peeing, give me five minutes!"
And I don't think any of that scarred me.
Of course, I could be in denial since, obviously, I hope I'm not scarring my girls too much.
I love them. They know this. They also know that sometimes, Mommy takes a little longer down in the basement 'doing laundry' that is absolutely necessary. And perhaps they realize I'm down there just because when I'm down there, no one is touching me, or climbing on me, or asking for something.
Never fear, though, five minutes in the basement leads to, "Mommy?!" being shouted from the top of the stairs.
I always answer with a, "Be right up."
And all is well. I've recharged in those five minutes of hanging clothes and can return to the trenches, ready for a bit more mauling and a lot more fun.
A mom, a dad and two daughters. We're living ordinary lives with a twist of 5p- (Cri du Chat) for spice. But we're about so much more than our younger daughter's genetic diagnosis.
3 comments:
I tell my kids, "I can't handle your whining any longer!" It doesn't even seem to phase them. I try to be really honest too, I just think if my kids know that I always tell the truth, then they can really trust my answers. Who knows maybe that will back fire later in life :)
Noooo I don't think so at all! I mean kids say it to their parents, and to their siblings ahhahha It is just what families do.
Nah, I don't think it harms them. I think they need to know you're human and that it's okay for people to need to be alone sometimes. Chances are, they'll discover the value of that in a few more years.... Like when they've spent the better part of 2 hours in the bathroom and just when you think you may never see their beautiful face again, they surface only to slam through the cupboards and complain about never having anything good to eat in this house and then retreat to their bedroom and disappear until you do indeed have something "good" available for their consumption... Or maybe that's just my household... :D
Keep on taking those little time-outs for yourself. "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!"
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