For My Fellow Failing Stay At Home Parents...

Good afternoon, Sunshines!

It's been a challenging week on the stay at home parenting front. Actually, it's been a challenging year.

Before anyone's tempted to tell me how I should cherish every moment because it goes so quickly, I already know. This is my third and last go around and truth be told, it's only marginally easier now than it was over a decade ago when my bigger ones were little to have my days dictated by the wants and needs of a small child. Another truth be told, I don't look wistfully on those days now that they've passed. Not that there aren't wonderful memories from that time, but every phase in my relationship with my children has had moments worth remembering and moments worth forgetting.

There have been many days of late when tears of frustration have knotted up in my chest to the point it hurts and I've wrestled with whether I'm cut out for this or if some preschool for her and work outside the home for me would be the best thing for the both of us. Every day that I don't schedule a visit at the Montessori down the street and hang up a cooking class shingle is truly taken one at a time.

This situation has tested my patience, resolve, and perspective, and they have failed almost as many times as they've passed passably, and hiding out in the closet with Netflix, wine, and chocolate seems like an impossible dream vacation.

I've been through this enough times to know this feeling will pass one way or another, but I'm sharing because I know I'm not alone in these feelings, because I want someone else who's feeling them to know they're not alone, and because I believe in the power of a good, empathic, commiserative vent session to get us through our trials from time to time.

So if you also happen to be barely holding this stay at home parenting gig together at the moment, know we're in this together and I'll be two fisted toasting you in just a few.

We can do this. ;)

shinae

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