Momming Is Hard

A while ago one of my friends had a facebook post that went something like this: “Other people complain about how hard being a mom is but I love it. I’m so good at it and it gives me purpose and meaning every day.” Um… wut. It kind of offended me. How dare you pretend like motherhood is easy? IT IS HARD, OK! EVERY DAY. QUIT BEING ALL HAPPY.  And the post was accompanied by a pic of her looking super cute, of course. Why isn’t your hair a mess? Why aren’t you crying on the floor next to dirty piles of laundry? I couldn’t put my finger on it, but this post stuck with me for a while. I was mad about it. It pulled at something deep inside of me - I knew I wanted to feel this way, too, but I didn’t. Every day was a struggle and some days I was wondering why I ever thought more than one kid was a good idea. I began to realize that I had an unhealthy view of motherhood. Motherhood, to me, meant being a frantic mess at home and counting down the hours for my hus...

Scott and I took the kids to Galveston earlier this summer. Let me tell ya, it was one for the books. Have you ever taken kids to the beach? Young kids? Kids who can’t walk yet? Woo hoo! Sign me up! #vacationofthecentury Somehow we made it to Galveston despite the fact that our car weighed a million tons. We had suitcases, towels, sand toys, a tent, chairs, an overstuffed beach bag and a blow up pool for Cooper to sit in, because that’s what Pinterest said works. We pulled up to the beach after the hour and a half it took to get out the door (WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG TO GET OUT THE FREAKING DOOR. EVERY. TIME. SOMEONE PLEASE FIND A SOLUTION AND TAKE IT TO SHARK TANK. Actually, come to think of it, I think it’s called a babysitter). So we get to the beach, and there’s this terrifying construction between our car and the sand called the sea wall that has to be like 27 feet tall and there are no rails and it extends for miles - the whole length of the beach! So, you know, very kid...

1. Your family and friends are more important than this article. If you are reading this at the expense of spending time with your significant other or friend, stop reading and come back later. Put down your phone, take a deep breath, and spend intentional time with the people sitting in the same room as you. This applies to anything we might think we need to be doing online - checking emails, texting someone back, sharing a funny video, etc. If it makes the person you're with feel less valued, you can usually find another time to do what you think you need to do on your phone. 2. You don't need any more useless knowledge, especially if it's presented in an enumerated list (like this one, ironically...and intentionally).  It seems like every article you see being passed around has those 5, 10, 15, or (like I saw on a headline today...)  47  "magical" things that unlock the secret to happiness, weight loss, marriage, motherhood, and the list goes on ...