The Days are Long...

You'll often hear people say that when you have kids, "The days are long, but the years are short." This fact upsets me on a regular basis. I don't want to be stumbling my way through my kids' childhood and then wake up one morning and have it be over! But the truth is, that when you're a parent to young children, the days do feel long sometimes. We all have an internal well that eventually gets depleted, some days I feel done before 9:00 A.M. This exhaustion seems somewhat inevitable when you hear things like this all day...

"Mommy, I need a snack."
"Mommy, I'm thirsty."
"Mommy, he hit me!
"Mommy, she hit me!"
"Mommy, wipe my bottom!"
"Mommy, I spilled something."
"I don't have to go to potty!"
"I wet my pants."
"I won't wear my coat!"
"My socks hurt."
"I'm not tired!"
"I'm too tired!"

It's also draining to say things like this all day...

"Did you go potty?, Did you go potty?, Did you go potty?!"
"Brush your teeth, Brush your teeth, Brush you teeth!"
“Put on your coat, Put on your coat, Put on your coat!”
“It's time to go, It's time to go, It's time to go!”
“Get in your seat, “Get in your seat, “Get in your seat!”
"Stop your feet, Stop your feet, Stop your feet!"
"No more fighting, No more fighting, No more fighting!"
"You're going to fall, You're going to fall, You're going to fall!"
"It's time for bed, It's time for bed, It's time for bed!"

We don't want to sound like broken records, but we do! We don't want to nag, but we must! We don't want to rush, but we're always late! Some days, no matter how hard we strive, we just can't get everyone moving in the same direction. Finding the balance between letting your kids be kids, and keeping the chaos from reaching dangerous levels is no small task.

So, when I feel guilty about getting stressed out, or when I worry that they days are slipping by too fast, I stop myself. I take a breath and say...

"You're only human, you're doing your best, you love your kids, you are eternally grateful, but sometimes you just need to scream, and that's okay."

Sometimes this actually works.