Ask just about any parent, and they will tell you motherhood or fatherhood is the hardest job in the world.
It requires patience, love, organization, and did I mention patience?
Parenting can be overwhelming, and there are plenty of days when moms and dads simply don't feel like they're doing this whole parenting thing right. The rise in social media doesn't help matters.
Moms and dads post small, perfect moments of their lives and create this illusion of an easy-going, well-run household. People rarely share the dark side of parenting on their Facebook pages: the colds, the temper tantrums, the unwashed laundry.
Not a lot of parents are willing to share that side of their lives, which makes this blog post we came across on Boston Moms Blog all the more refreshing.
Tracy Slater blogged her honest thoughts on parenting from a unique perspective that many of us have never considered before. Her post encourages parents to stop and consider how tough it is to be a kid.
Scroll through below to read Slater's incredible words, and let us know what you think of her thoughts on parenting in the comments!
[H/T: Boston Moms Blog]
We know what you may be thinking. Being a kid is definitely not as rough as parenting them.
But, before you write this blogger off as just another child enabler, hear her out. You may be surprised about what she has to say.
It's Hard For Them, Too
By Tracy Slater
"It had been a long night and I was so close to being on the other side of it. Then halfway through the last verse of the last bedtime song, you lifted your head up.
“'Wawa?' you asked. I took a cursory glance around the room, knowing I wasn’t going to see a sippy cup.
"'There’s no water up here. You’re fine.' 'Wawa?' 'Honey, no.' 'Wawa!' More insistent this time. And my anger flashed to the surface, fast and red and hot and fiery."
"A quick intake of breath. My body stiffened, my teeth clenched. And of course you felt it. Despite my quickly stifling it, you felt it as clearly as I did and you melted into me.
"Your tiny body shook with sobs because the person you love most in the world, the person who you depend on for everything you need, turned momentarily monstrous because you wanted water.
"Because you were thirsty before going to bed and you have no autonomy with which to resolve your problems."
"Imagine living life with that kind of lack of control. We talk a lot about how hard it is to be a mom, and with good reason — this gig is anything but easy.
"But the second week of April is 'The Week of the Young Child,' and in its honor I’d like to acknowledge how hard it is to be a small child.
"As a therapist, I often try to imagine what life is like for young children. If I want to find a solution to difficult behavior, I first have to try to understand it.
"And each time I put myself in the shoes of a young child I come to the same conclusion: Not a single one of us adults could cope with the things they have to cope with."
"For starters, think about being told what to do, when to do it, and how to do it — endlessly. Eat this thing that you’ve never seen before. Don’t make a rude face (what does rude mean?).
"It’s time to go somewhere you don’t want to go, and hurry, hurry, hurry to meet an arbitrary timeline that means nothing to you."
"Imagine failing as much as a young child does. Not being able to make your hands move the right way to cut the paper, stumbling as you run across the lawn, spilling the milk you so desperately wanted to pour (and here I am, exasperated with him again).
"Another bedtime example: 'Dad, tell me how the guy got up there.' 'He climbed.' 'NO, tell me how he got up there?'
"Over and over again, our son becomes more and more frustrated until I realize he meant to say, 'ASK me how he got up there?'"
"One wrong word changing the whole sentence and causing all that frustration. Imagine constantly failing to effectively communicate with the people in your life.
"Day after day, struggling to find the right word, saying one thing when you mean another, mispronouncing words so much that nobody knows what you’re saying.
"And then having people get frustrated with YOU, lose patience with YOU."
"One of my favorite books to read with the kids is Everywhere Babies.
"The last page reads, 'Every day everywhere babies are loved. For trying so hard, for traveling so far, for being so wonderful, just as they are.' I tear up almost every time I read it because it’s so true.
"In spite of it all, they try and they try and they try again. They greet their days with smiles, enthusiasm, and excitement.
"They forgive our mistakes, our flashes of fiery, unfair anger. They meet our impatience with patience (at least sometimes), they laugh and live and love with reckless abandon.
"So when they push us to the edge of our limits, let’s try to remember that we’re doing the same thing to them."
We really enjoyed this mommy blogger's perspective on parenting, and we hope you did, too! For more posts just like this, head over to Boston Moms Blog.
Let us know what you think about her advice in the comments, and don't forget to SHARE with all the moms and dads you know!
