Category Archives: Stay at home mom

Seven ridiculously easy “toys”/games to entertain a toddler

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I say “toys” because they are, of course, NOT toys. I’ve learned that my son really isn’t entertained by his actual toys for long…but give him a colander and he’s occupied for hours. Since we’ve been packing up and decluttering for the move, most of our stuff has been in a constant state of “strewn about” for the past week or so. This means that we’ve had to be a bit creative when it comes to play time! Here are a few simple games and MacGyvered toys to entertain your little one:

1. Laundry basket fabric pull
Laundry baskets are a baby’s best friend. They can be boats to ride in, walkers to push around, and endless sources of entertainment. I took one of our laundry baskets and threaded lots of different pieces of fabric through the holes in the side – scarves, scraps napkins, etc. – for Ethan to pull out and play with. This kept Ethan occupied for a good thirty minutes one day!

2. Paper circle spiral
While Ethan was napping the other day, I was cleaning out our closet and came across a bunch of paper circles about the side of my palm. I have absolutely no clue where they came from or why I had them, but they gave me the idea for a game! I used a small piece of double-sided tape on each one and created a spiral on the carpet. When Ethan woke up, I set him free to explore them as he wished. He had a great time pulling them up and trying to press them back down.

3. “Is this a hat?”
I’m not sure what exactly is so hilarious about putting something on your head that isn’t a hat, but my son can’t get enough of this game. All I do is grab several objects and a few hats, then take turns putting them on my head and/or Ethan’s head. I ask “is this a hat?” each time and try to encourage Ethan to nod or shake his head to answer (it doesn’t usually work, but we’ve had a couple of successful rounds). Even if he doesn’t respond, he laughs his head off while we play.

4. Pots and pans orchestra
I know, I know, this isn’t terribly original. Find me anyone who didn’t bang on pots and pans as a kid! But there is something to be said for this classic form of entertainment. It’s loud and crazy, but kids just love it. If you have pots of many different sizes, kids can also use them to practice stacking and nesting. I will sometimes stretch rubber bands across a small pot to create a child-sized banjo, too – much quieter and lots of fun!

5. Splish splash!
We don’t have one of those fancy water tables or access to a pool right now, so we do it cheapskate style. Lay down some towels or head outside with some bowls of water and a few bath toys and let the fun begin! A couple of new, clean sponges make great sensory toys, too. Just be prepared to get soaked!

6. Throwing stuff at a sheet
I couldn’t come up with anything cleverer to name this activity, because that’s literally all it is. Hang up a sheet and throw stuff at it! It’s   a great way to vent some of that toddler energy, plus the sheet will act like a sort of goal and cut down on how much you’ll have to chase around the things being thrown! Your best bet is to do this outside, using a clothesline (or something similar) and weights to keep the sheet taut. If you do it inside like we did, you can try using chairs to hold up the sheet!

7. Egg carton ball holder
Ethan has a bunch of plastic balls that he loves to play with, and they happen to fit perfectly into an egg carton! It’s a fun game for him to place the balls in the little spots for the eggs. Plus, the carton is a great place to store the balls while they aren’t being used!

 I’ve had good results with ether.

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Movin’ on…

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There’s something so cleansing and refreshing about packing boxes in order to prepare for a move. The excitement about a fresh start, the little tingles when you pin a great decorating idea…

Oh, wait, no, none of that is true because I hate packing and moving gives me hives.

Since we’ve been in a wibbly-wobbly place as far as work goes and we’re really hoping to save up for a house sooner rather than later, my mom invited us to move in with her after our lease is up. I’m actually really looking forward to it. Financially, it will allow us to really just buckle down, pay off our debts a lot faster, and save up for a house. More than that, we’ll be in a great neighborhood (it’s where I grew up!) with a big yard, a quiet street, and we’ll have the chance to get a hands-on tutorial on being homeowners…hopefully, that will mean that we will be able to do some of our own renovations and repairs once the time comes.

It’s a strange feeling to be moving back in with my mom. On one hand, it’s a little frustrating because I had hoped that at this stage in my life, I’d be done with that. On the other, I know it’s probably the quickest way to get us back on track and closer to our goals. It will definitely take a lot of compromise and adjustment, but I think it could be a wonderful thing for all of us. Ethan will certainly love having his Gigi around all the time – he absolutely lights up the second he sees her!

I’m excited to start some of my pet projects – I’m hoping to help my mom get her back yard in shape and do some general organizing. I’ve always loved that house and that street. It’s a wonderful place for a child to play, and my best friend’s family still lives there (so hopefully I’ll actually see Kelsey more often. Ahem).

So while it may not be the “ideal” situation (what is, really? There’s always something), I think it will be an interesting time in our lives. Onwards and upwards!

Oh, and Ethan’s new door is the door to the TARDIS. So…win.

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What’s that? I can’t hear you over the sound of my mom painting an awesome door for my kid.

A day in the life: the toddler edition

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I have a toddler. A legitimate toddler. He’s over a year old and he runs. That means I have to be a bit creative with my usual schedule.

HA!

I’m sorry, I just burst out laughing at the idea of having a “usual” schedule. Because, let’s be real, if you’re a parent staying at home with a toddler, your idea of “usual” is pretty flexible.

To be fair to my son, he’s a really easy kid to take care of. I’m aware of that and extremely thankful for it, and I’m knocking wood right now in hope that I’m not jinxing myself by openly recognizing my good fortune. But even so, the easiest toddler in the world is still a toddler. It’s only ever going to be so easy!

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The longest and shortest year

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I’ve been really lax about posting here lately! I got busy out of nowhere, then caught the plague, then Ethan turned one.

Yup. He’s one. I officially have a one-year-old. When the hell did that happen? That saying about kids giving you “long days and short years” is definitely true.

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Ethan is a wonderful little boy. Obviously, I’m a bit biased, but he really is a doll. He has been walking (and, occasionally, running, which is terrifying to behold), copying some signs, repeating sounds, and figuring out how to play with toys without any tutorial. That last one is pretty impressive to me. For example, he has a little toy train that came with blocks and that has a little seat so he can ride on it. I never showed him how to put the blocks into the chute or how to sit on the train (I worried his little fingers might get stuck in the chute and that he’d fall off of the seat). Adam says he never showed him, either. However, one day, lo and behold, he was expertly putting blocks into the chute and swinging his leg over the train like he was mounting a mighty steed. Go figure. I don’t know if that’s just how babies operate or what, but even if that’s pretty typical, it still impresses me. I can’t figure out some of his toys, and he just toddles up and takes over like a champ!

The best thing about Ethan, though, is how affectionate and happy he is. He is almost always in a great mood and he’s very friendly to everyone he sees. People go out of their way to come and talk to him, which he just loves. It has taken a lot of getting used to, and sometimes it still throws me off when a stranger comes up to us at the grocery store for a chat with my son, but it’s really lovely. Having people be so kind to me and to Ethan when they don’t even know us just shows me how much good there is to be found in people.

We had Ethan’s first birthday party on Saturday, which was a great success. We had a Hulk theme and it was all very laid back and fun.

I still find it hard to believe that I have been a parent for an entire year now. It has been an interesting time. The highs and lows were extreme for a long time, and I had plenty of days when I thought I was just not cut out for motherhood. There were times when I wondered if Ethan would be better off without me. Looking back, it breaks my heart to remember that I ever felt that way. Things are so much better now, and my anxiety and depression have improved dramatically in the past four months or so. My bond with Ethan has never been stronger, and I look forward to our time together every day. Anyone out there who is struggling with PPD – or just parenthood in general – please know that things can always get better. Find a way to help yourself and don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t have things 100% together. No one does. As always, I’m happy to be a sounding board if anyone ever wants to talk. And if you don’t want to talk, know that I’m still supporting you, wherever you are.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of our lives and given us so much love and support this year! I am grateful for the journey up to this point and I look forward to the years to come.

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My tips for staying at home

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Now that I have been doing this semi-SAHM thing for almost a year, I thought I’d toss out a few tips to help others who are making the transition to being a stay-at-home parent (or who are already staying home but need a little advice to make it easier). These are things I wish I had figured out from day one!

Create snack stations
When I first came home with Ethan, I was still sore from my C-section and Ethan preferred to nap on me instead of on his own. This meant that it was a little tricky to get up and prepare a meal or even a snack for myself when I wanted one! My solution to this was to find several spots throughout the apartment (my nightstand, the coffee table, and the dining table) to make designated “snack stations”. I’d place a bottle of water and a healthy snack at each spot, just in case I found myself anchored by a peacefully snoozing baby or simply too tired/lazy to get up when hunger struck.

Adjust your sleep schedule now
If, like me, you were a night owl before becoming a parent, start doing your best to adjust your schedule. Wake up earlier, force yourself to go to bed earlier, and (if possible), grab a catnap during the day. Though you won’t always be able to sleep when the baby sleeps, chances are a 20-minute nap won’t be out of the question here and there, and it’s a good way to stay refreshed and alert. Getting used to your new sleep schedule in advance will help reduce exhaustion and schedule shock – if only just a little.

Pound the pavement
Research what sort of activities are within walking distance, if you live in a walking-friendly area. Getting out of the house as often as possible can help stave off that feeling of being cooped up, which was definitely a contributing factor to my depression early on. Once I started trying to get outside for a walk at least a few times a week, even if it was just for a walk around the corner to grab a bagel, my stress lessened considerably. Getting that extra fresh air also helped Ethan a lot, it seems – I don’t know for sure if the two are connected, so don’t quote me on this, but his sleep improved within a week of us beginning our daily walks for fun. It could be a coincidence, but even if fresh air and sleep aren’t directly connected, it sure couldn’t hurt!

Try a new activity every day
Staying at home can be boring. Sure, you’re busy running around after the baby and trying to keep up with the house and still maintain some sanity/a social life/a connection to the outside world, but there are still times when it can be a dull lifestyle. To keep things fresh, try doing something new every day. It doesn’t have to be a big Pinterestable thing – even just reading a new story, visiting a new location, or setting up an obstacle course made of pillows can wake up your routine.

Pack the diaper bag every night
Before you go to bed, pack the diaper bag. It took me ages to remember to work this into my routine, for some reason, but once I did, I was so glad. Having a bag that is always packed and ready to go makes life a lot easier. It means that if you have to rush out of the house at 3:00 AM for some reason, you’ll have whatever the baby needs without having to think about it. It eliminates an excuse to not leave the house. And, best of all, it’s one less task to do during that blessed thing known as “nap time”, meaning you’ll have an extra five minutes to do as you please.

Allow yourself to be imperfect
I put ridiculous amounts of pressure on myself, so I know this one is easier said than done. Any life change is going to take a lot of trial and error and a lot of adjustment. Becoming a stay-at-home parent will probably be very different than you expect – it may be far more difficult or it may not feel challenging enough. There will absolutely be days when you want to tear your hair out and run for the hills, there will be days when you’ll want to cry for absolutely no reason, and there will be days when you’ll wonder if this isn’t the lifestyle for you. And that’s fine. You’re probably not going to love every second of every day. Even the best days can be exhausting. Try your best to appreciate the good times and remember them when you feel like you’re drowning. Don’t expect to become an expert on parenting overnight. Don’t feel like a failure just because you didn’t complete your to-do list. Perfection is not required. Again, I beat myself up over this stuff all the time, so I know I need to be better at practicing what I preach. I’m trying. But I want other parents out there to know that just because you might find yourself wondering if you’ve made a mistake by staying home or feeling overwhelmed by it all, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad parent. It means you’re a human being, plain and simple.

I think that parents who choose to stay at home often feel pressured to paint a “my life is perfect and made of rainbows” picture to everyone else. We don’t want people to think that we sometimes have doubts or that we have messed up, because we don’t want to be judged. Parents judge and are judged constantly. It sucks, but it’s just human nature – we may not mean or even want to judge, but we do. So believe me, I understand that fear of someone thinking you’re a bad parent. You’re not required to air your dirty laundry or fess up to every mistake, but you also shouldn’t feel like you have to make it seem like every day is a dream come true. How often do we hear people complain about their jobs, even though they generally enjoy it and feel lucky to have it? Even someone working their dream job will have rough days. If they’re allowed to gripe a little, so are you. If you need help, you can (and should) ask for it. Find someone – your partner, a friend, an online forum, etc. – to vent to and ask advice when you need it. Not being perfect does not equal failure. Say that to yourself when you’re having one of those days, breathe, reach out, and give yourself a break.

I am completely serious when I say this: if you are a SAHP and you need someone to talk to, please feel free to reach out to me. I may not have a magic answer for whatever you’re struggling with, but I’m more than happy to listen and offer a sympathetic ear.

The semi-scheduled semi-SAHM

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Now that Adam has been working a new job, with more traditional hours, we have fallen into a new pattern. It’s reliable, it rarely changes, and is completely, utterly weird to me. After years of Adam working from dinnertime until 2:00 AM or working from 10:00 AM until 8:00 PM or other such odd hours. Now, he leaves for work at 8:30 AM and gets home around 6:00 PM. It’s fantastic. I can actually make dinner and know that there will be someone else home to eat it. Right when it comes off of the stove. With me. I don’t have to play the “keep the food warm without drying it out because he’s not being released on time yet again” game. We get several hours a night together after Ethan goes to bed and we can still go to sleep at a reasonable hour. It’s a marvelous thing.

I’m still not used to it, though. It’s a foreign concept to me, having a “normal” schedule. Adam gives Ethan his breakfast, then I get up and take over so he can get ready for work. Then he goes to work, I do the SAHM thing, and he comes home. He usually puts Ethan to bed. We have dinner, we hang out, we go to sleep. It sounds boring – and I’m not going to pretend like my life’s a thrill ride by saying this – but it’s not. It’s reliable. And it’s a relief. Since we spent several years just scrambling to have a semi-normal routine, it just feels so good to stop all the rushing around for a while and just enjoy each other and the simple things. I had time last night to bake brownies and make a pot of tea after dinner, then watch several episodes of Girls with Adam…and we still went to bed before midnight. It used to be rare that we could do that when he was at his old job. More often than not, we missed each other entirely and had to have rushed, ten-minute chats first thing in the morning and maybe a few texts back and forth throughout the day.

That’s why I have been neglecting this blog for a while – I’ve been thoroughly enjoying having this sort of time with my family. I’ve been reading more, writing more, and trying to learn how to crochet (so far, I suck, but hopefully that’s only temporary). Now that Ethan is walking, he keeps me very busy throughout the day, and I have been trying to go out of the house and explore as much as possible. His curiosity is boundless. It’s remarkable to see him suddenly go from being a little baby to being this miniature person with his personality blossoming. I didn’t realize how much happens so quickly with kids – one night they’re crawling, by morning they’re running, by that afternoon they’ve learned a new skill…it’s hard to keep up. But it really is wonderful, and I’m so grateful that we all have the time to be together and witness it.

Under the sea…

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Last Saturday, I was given the gift of oversleeping. This meant that I was wide awake and able to hear the leak when it started around 9:00 AM.

At first, I thought the faucet was left on, or maybe that something weird was going on with the dishwasher. I went into the kitchen to see what was going on. When I saw the stream of water, my immediate reaction was to wake my poor husband, who had only just started to take a nap (sorry, Adam), set down some bowls, and lay out some towels. Surely, for the two skinny streams of water coming from the light fixtures, that would be enough. Maintenance would be called and we’d soon be able to go about our lazy Saturday.

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Oh, how naive I was.

To his credit, our on-call maintenance guy was there in a flash, but there was just nothing he could do alone. Our upstairs neighbor, who was at work and didn’t even know about the situation, had an inch of water on her floor due to a burst pipe. By the time the water was shut off, about an hour after the leaking started, we were soaked and had dumped gallons of dirty water out. Ethan, who had slept through all this commotion, woke to find that we had created a makeshift barricade out of his larger toys in order to section off part of the living room to allow him to play without wandering into squishy, wet carpeting. Impressively Southern men from the restoration company came in and out all morning, greeting us with a lot of “Pardon me, ma’am” and “we’ll keep you apprised of the goings-on”.

Despite it all being a huge, stressful mess, I couldn’t help enjoying it a little bit. I ran around the apartment singing “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid while we emptied bowls, we joked about Ethan needing his first water wings, and I used the whole situation as an excuse to gorge myself on the rest of the Christmas candy. All in all, it was a decent day. But then…we heard the news. From the awesomely-named Rock.

“I’m so sorry that I must be the bearer of unhappy news, but y’all will have to vacate while we are fixing things up. Especially since y’all have the little one.”

If you ever have to be told anything like that, make sure Rock tells you. You won’t even care, you’ll just want to make some sweet tea and sit on a porch with him.

We packed up a few things and made our way to the apartment our company provided, which happened to be right behind ours. We didn’t bring much – why bother? We (again, naively) thought we’d only be here for a day or two. But now we’re on day five of being away from home and I find myself getting weary of it.

I know we’re very fortunate. If we had still been out of town or if, I shudder to think about this, the leaks had started in Ethan’s room, who knows how bad it could have been? And I feel just awful for our upstairs neighbor. I was so scared that something was wrong when I knocked on her door and she didn’t answer. The relief I felt when we found out she was just at work was incredible. I can’t imagine coming home to such a mess, and I hope nothing too important was damaged. I haven’t had the chance to see her since Saturday, but I’ve been thinking about her a lot and wishing we could do something to help her out. We really did get off easy – none of our stuff was even damaged. Just the floor, walls, and ceiling, all of which are being replaced right now. We were beyond lucky.

Even so, it’s rough being away from home again. We had a great time in Florida, but traveling with an infant is as exhausting as it is fun. We were still in recovery mode when the leaks happened, and I was just starting to get the house back in order after our initial post-vacation, throw-that-crap-down-and-wherever-it-lands-is-where-it-lives decompressing session. Now, we’re…well, pretty much doing the same thing, only not at home. We’re sleeping on the floor, I’m cooking a lot of slapped-together meals since most of my cookware was used to catch water and I haven’t cleaned it all yet (I couldn’t actually get into the kitchen to retrieve it until today anyway), and we only just got our internet signal back. Basically…I’ve been bored. I’ve been doing some reading, and we brought some DVDs with us. It just isn’t the same. I actually miss cleaning my own house, cooking in my own kitchen, taking care of our own things. I miss walls with decorations on them and having a sofa.

Hopefully, we’ll be back in our own place after this weekend. I’m anxious for things to go back to “normal”, and I am looking forward to getting my little family back where we belong! Until then…I think I might build a blanket fort in here. The temptation is just too great to resist.

New Year’s resolutions

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It’s a bit late to make these since it’s already 2013 and all that, but I wasn’t sure what resolutions I wanted to set for myself. It was a tough call. Every year, I set a weight loss goal for myself and every year, I fail to reach it (or I reach it and backslide due to illness/injury/pregnancy, in 2011′s case). Any time I set a writing goal for myself, I end up getting sidetracked because I have too many ideas and not enough fleshing out to go around. I’m not going to set an acting goal for myself simply because my schedule is too unpredictable for me to realistically expect to do much of anything until the job situation is figured out.

So for this year, I plan to be a bit more vague about my goals. I don’t want to set anything too specific (except for my reading goal); rather, I’d like to make this year about gradual improvement. Instead of saying “I will be in three plays, write two, and lose 20 pounds”, I want to make my goals about general wellness and cultivating my hobbies. So, for 2013, here are my resolutions:

-Get as close to my pre-pregnancy weight of 120 lbs as possible. Ideally, I’d like to be within an five-pound range of that, which is where I feel most comfortable. This means I need to lose about fifteen pounds over the course of the year. If I don’t reach that ideal number, I’m not going to beat myself up about it. After having a baby, your body changes, often in permanent ways. I’d prefer to roll with the punches than obsess. I’d also like to make sure I’m walking at least a mile a day and running at least three miles a week. I know that’s not much, but it’s a realistic goal for me and it’s more than I have been doing!

-Read at least 25 books. For someone who used to read at least a book a week, not reading much has been strange for me. I want to get back into the world of books. I was blessed with a son who adores his books, and I want to set a good example for him as he grows. Being a good reader is the one thing that I could always rely on helping me through school (and through life in general), and I want to encourage Ethan to love reading. So if anyone has some must-read books on their list, please let me know!

-Act, write, or produce a play this year. Even if it’s just a one-night staged reading, I want to be a part of something involving theatre. If that isn’t possible, I will try to attend at least three plays this year to keep from rusting too much.

-Rebuild our savings account. It is utterly wiped out from all of our unexpected expenses before Ethan and then pregnancy/hospital bills/parenting. I’m not setting a specific numeric goal for this, but I just want there to be something in there and for us to stop having to dip into it every month.

-Start painting again. I’m not fantastic at it or anything, but I love to paint and I haven’t picked up a brush (or smeared paint on a canvas by hand) in years. It’s high time. I’d also like to start sewing again and, if possible, learn sewing by machine so I can make some new clothes and patch/tailor some older ones.

-Grow and strengthen as a wife, mother, and person. I know, I know, that’s so vague and mommyblogger of me to say…but it’s something I’d like to be more conscious of. I don’t want to settle, I want to continue to push myself and improve every day. Whether that means trying harder at running the house or easing up on the pressure I put on myself, I want to strive toward finding that happy balance and truly enjoying this time, as well as nurturing my own self.

A day in the life…the “one car, two kids, and three car seat naps” edition

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A little over a week ago, Adam was robbed at gunpoint while he was at work. The robber got $20, his phone, and the pizzas Adam was delivering, but fortunately Adam was not hurt. He was, however, terribly shaken up. He is feeling much better and ended up giving his notice to the store, so his last day will be just before Christmas. Obviously, this is putting a lot of pressure on both of us financially, but that’s better than both of us constantly being terrified of another incident like this. They are not uncommon, unfortunately. Delivery drivers are easy targets. I am just thankful that my husband was unharmed and came home to us in one piece.

That would have been quite enough stress for one week, but Murphy must have been listening in. A couple of days after the robbery, the brakes on Adam’s car simply ceased working while he was on a delivery. He ended up getting a ride home from a particularly kind police officer and the car has been hauled away to the mechanic. We haven’t heard yet how much the repairs will cost, but frankly, there’s a chance it will not be worth repairing. The car has been through almost three decades and twice as many owners – it doesn’t owe us anything, that’s for sure. We have borrowed a car from Adam’s parents to tide us over, but we were a one-car household for a couple of days.

One of those days was a work day for me.

It was slightly insane.

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Sick day

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That whole “no sick days for Mommy!” thing has always bothered me. Not because I don’t sympathize or think we’re allowed a whine now and then. Of course I do and of course we are. Being sick sucks. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do. If you don’t feel well, it hurts, and it makes things harder. Being glum about it and blatantly asking for sympathy? Totally fine in my book. I think everyone needs it now and then.

The thing that bothers me is when women think that simply because they are mothers, their cold is the worst cold that ever colded. Yes, it’s frustrating when you just want to be a lump on the sofa and you can’t because your child isn’t old enough to entertain themselves for a bit. Believe me, I’m feeling that right now. All I want to do is curl up in a ball, take some Benadryl, and go into a coma until I can breathe again. But I can’t do that. Ethan wants to play, he needs his bottles and meals, he needs to be changed, he needs fresh air. There are errands to be run, an apartment to be cleaned, and dinner to be cooked.

Woe is freakin’ me, right?

I’m not unsympathetic to my fellow moms who are feeling rotten and can’t take the time to just sleep it off. I just think we need to remember that we are not the only ones in that situation. There are so many people who also don’t get to call in sick – not necessarily because they have kids, but because they have jobs that do not allow sick leave, or that only pay an hourly wage that they can’t afford to lose. There are people who don’t have jobs and can’t take a day off from searching for one. And what about students? Sure, they can miss class if they’re sick, but it may not be worth playing catch-up. There are plenty of reasons why others can’t take a break when they don’t feel well. Motherhood is not a sick day trump card. We need to be able to suck it up and get through our day just like everyone else, without expecting people to be amazed by our incredible strength just because we happened to pop out a kid or two.

I hope I don’t sound too horrible by saying all this. It wasn’t sparked by anything from my circle of friends. I overheard a woman today say that no one could ever understand what a cold really feels like unless they were a mother, because we have to sacrifice every bit of our personal comfort for our children. She then went on to say that there should be daycare provided for moms dealing with sick days. I’d say she was joking, but I couldn’t really tell. She was saying this while she was in line to get coffee at the Starbucks in the store, wearing a lovely outfit, and sporting what looked like professional highlights in her hair. I’m pretty sure she got to hang on to some personal comfort. Maybe if she had been talking about something a bit more serious than a bad cold, I might have taken her more seriously. But it bothered me. I don’t know a thing about her, so I feel a bit bad passing judgment like this, but the way she was talking like she should be entitled to a medal for her bravery and self-sacrifice in the face of sniffles…well, can you blame me?

Being a parent does mean giving up some things and it means a lot of big changes to your  previous lifestyle. But most of us knew that going into it. We all had some idea how our lives were going to shift and change, and I think most parents have their feet on the ground enough to expect that there will be times when we absolutely cannot think about ourselves at all. There are times when it really does have to be 100% about our children and no one else. These little people we bring into the world rely on us for everything, so it’s only logical to assume that, yes, there will be some sacrifices on our part. You don’t have to like all of them. But I think that part of the reason why moms get the bad “holier than thou” rap is because many of us (myself included – I’m sure I’m guilty of it as well) tend to make our sacrifices very public and very loud. We’re proud of our children and proud of ourselves for making said sacrifices in order to care for them. That’s a healthy way to think in theory, but splashing it about and making it sound like we are the only people who ever gave up one thing in order to have another is sending a bad message.

Is parenting the most important job on the planet? I’d argue that it’s up there for sure. I  may not be saving lives or curing diseases or inventing world-changing technology, but there’s a chance that I am raising someone who could do those things someday. Just because I Am Mommy, Hear Me Roar, that doesn’t mean I am more important or deserving of sympathy for my sniffles than anyone else.

So, to any moms out there who are also sick today, I wish you long naps, happy babies, and helpful partners. And for any non-moms who are also sick today, I wish you whatever you need to ease your discomfort as well.

I apologize for the ramble and lack of editing in this post. Part of the aforementioned sniffles package is that I am far too lazy to keep myself in check today. I hope it at least makes some sense.

EDIT: I lied. I am editing to say one more thing, which hopefully summarizes what I was trying to say all along: feel what you feel. Ask for sympathy and whine if you must, but don’t look down on anyone else who does the same just because they are not a parent. Yes, parenting is hard and makes sick days harder, but have compassion for others. Everyone has something that makes their life harder. Not just moms.


Look, puppies! Rainbows! A red wagon! That means this wasn’t a mean post at all…right?