Moms and dads who are better at this parenting thing than me, I’ve got some questions for you.
One question really – HOW? How??
(This is less of a question and more of a ‘something I’d like to yell across the street at you’.) I have no idea how you pull it all off. Or pull any of it off. I can barely pull gum off the underside of our chairs.
I’m dying to know how y’all manage. How do you meet all the basic needs of your family without dying every single night? HOW?
Let me elaborate.
Moms who have a clean house
How? Yeah sure, you’re going to tell me how you taught your kid from an early age to put their toys away. Your kid probably even liked that “clean up, clean up” song. Your kid probably never screams that he is too tired to move a single hot wheel and dissolved into a puddle you then have to mop up.
But that still doesn’t explain how your house is spotless all the time.
I mean – have none of your children ever projectile vomited off the top of a bunk bed in the middle of the night? After eating chocolate birthday cake for dessert? Is that why you still have white curtains?
‘Cause I don’t. Anymore.
Moms who work out of the home
How? How do you do this? Or more accurately, when?
When do you find the time to work? I mean, I know you’re scheduled 9-5 Monday-Friday but when do you actually work?
Do you have one of those Harry Potter time turners? A doppelgänger? Do you have 48 hours in your day and you just haven’t told us?
Because I know between the dentist appointments, the school plays, random teacher work days, and the steady stream of snot filled sick days, you are constantly rearranging your schedule.
I’m starting to grow concerned I might actually have a 9-5 job I just haven’t had a chance to show up at in three years.
Moms who are always on time
You pack lunches ahead of time, I get it. You lay out clothes and you know where your sunglasses and wallet are all the time. Good for you. But I don’t care how much you plan ahead, I don’t care how early you try to leave. That’s not my question.
What I want to know is – how do you stop them from pooping right as you are walking out the door?
I mean, you can’t plan for that one. You can’t just leave ten minutes earlier because then you’re just driving back home because someone doesn’t want to poop in the public potty and/or you forgot the wipes (again). So what’s your secret? Dates? Prunes? Bananas? A schedule? Lock the bathroom door ten minutes before you have to leave? Double up on the diapers?
Tell me.
Moms whose kids don’t fight
So, what’s it like to have one kid?
Moms who sleep through the night
Fresh air? Exercise? Bananas? Chamomile tea? Lavender oil? Melatonin? Whiskey?
Tell me, what are you crushing up and putting in your kids’ applesauce to get them to sleep through the night?
You know what no one ever really tells you – kids never sleep through the night. Sure they stop waking up to nurse (allegedly). But there’s still growing pains and stomach bugs and nightmares and boredom and monsters under the bed. And when you have three kids with three different reasons to wake up, it’s just like playing whack-a-mole.
All. Night. Long.
Moms who workout
Why?
I mean sure, you can say you want to be healthy and look amazing in your “I actually do yoga” pants. But between the three hundred LEGO piece deadlifts and the separation-anxiety-won’t-go-to-anyone-else 20lb weight carry and the 40 laps of “you’re too little to go down the big slide let’s come back to this part of the playground,” aren’t you tired enough?
I’m pretty sure all moms are secretly in amazing shape and could run marathons.
If we just weren’t so tired.
Moms who look amazing at school drop off
What time did you wake up this morning? It must’ve been earlier than 5:30 because I’ve been up since then and have managed to look a little worse each hour. So when did you wake up, 3, 4am? If I woke up at 4am maybe then I’d have half a minute to brush my teeth before drop off but I’m not counting on it. You went to bed looking like that right? You did your hair, your makeup, got dressed, and fell asleep standing up so that nothing smudged. Right? That’s the only thing I can figure.
Moms whose kids eat healthy
So, they’ve never had chicken nuggets, right? Because it’s all over after chicken nuggets.
I don’t care that chicken nuggets aren’t even that unhealthy. It’s the fact that it unlocks something in their brains. The nuggets clue our kids into the fact we’ve just been lying to them this whole time. You don’t actually have to eat the vegetables. You can get by perfectly fine on a steady diet of supposedly white breast meat and whole grain bread coating.
Once they’ve seen behind the curtain, there’s no going back.
Moms with teenagers
It gets easier right? Please tell me it gets easier.
Wait, no. I don’t want to know.
Moms with work-life balance, perfectly behaved and well-nurtured children who eat their vegetables
So, when are you due?
Jackie Semmens 