From time to time, it’s inevitable. It’s going to happen. You’re going to go into your week thinking so optimistically that you can juggle all of it.
You have this false sense of strength that you can manage taking care of all the kids (feeding, bathing, preparing for school), taking care of your pets, staying on top of your professional job, maintaining a (somewhat) clean house, staying on the laundry, planning and cooking the dinners, keeping track of the schedules for each person and pet…the list is never ending. There are those weeks when you start out so strong, feeling like you can be “Super Parent” after all.
Then Friday hits and BAM! You are zapped; mentally, physically, emotionally drained. You’ve hit a wall. You just can’t give any more of yourself to anyone else because you feel like you are so depleted you’ve got nothing left to give.
Every parent has been there.
This was one of those weeks for me. With our beloved Bailey’s news and my husband working almost round the clock, it’s an added layer of exhaustion-mentally and physically. I have not had one minute to sit and actually think and process things.
But then I hug and kiss the kids goodnight and they remind me just how unimportant everything else is. They are my priority (two-legged and four-legged). And no matter how spend we get each week with the “other stuff”, we have to remind ourselves that the most important “job” we have is raising our kids.
And no matter how spent we get each week with the “other stuff”, we have to remind ourselves that the most important “job” we have is raising our kids.
Will my kids remember the times I was stressed out and angry? I hope not. But I know they will remember the laughs we have, and the Friday night movie nights, and the tug-of-war with the dogs. They will remember that you were present, and I am convinced they will know just how much we give of ourselves for them. I wouldn’t give up that much of myself for anyone else, only my kids. And that is why a parent’s love is just so special.
Power through, Moms and Dads. It’s draining and exhausting and never ending work, but remember-these kids are so pure and so naturally good, and it is our reward in life to continue to raise them that way. You will snap. You will say some choice words. You will “lose it”. But you will also be the one they turn to when they are scared, or need help, or need comforted, because that’s what you’ve always been to them.
