As parents we are always dealing with “new” situations.  Not new as in this has never ever happened before, to anyone else, ever on the planet, but new as in “oh crap” I wasn’t prepared to deal with this situation, in this moment.  I  mean we think we are prepared, but you really never are prepared!!  Like the first time my oldest had a major blow out, I knew it would happen but was I prepared? No!  In fact I was so unprepared we ended up eating lunch with a naked baby…It happens people don’t deny it!!  I am no expert at parenting and most of my parenting Ah Ha moments come when I am venting.  I have these moments of OOOOHHHH that’s what I should do.  That saying it takes a village…yeah it’s for real!  I have a pretty good relationship with my kids but they are still kids.  They don’t want to disappoint us so there are times I find out things in a round about way.  I don’t care how many times I say it is better I hear it from you, they still like to surprise me every now and then.  Back to the village, I have the best friends who are the best parents!  We have completely different parenting styles, so sometimes our children need a different view of what we are trying to teach them.  We see things differently and it really helps to talk to people that you love and trust to help you through this parenting thing.

Side note: this isn’t what I was going to write about but let’s go with it and see where it takes us 🙂

Parenting is no joke ya’ll!  I mean we are talking about a person here!  You really don’t want to screw them up!  People always say to me, “It must be so easy now that they are all self sufficient” REALLY?!?  Umm no!  Before, when they were babies and toddlers, my job was to make sure they were fed, loved, showered, teeth brushed, hair brushed and tolerable for others to be around in public.  Some of those are not even necessary on a daily.  Now I am responsible for making sure they are self sufficient, kind, well spoken, well groomed, smart, funny, personable, loving adults that will make a contribution to society in someway.  Whew!  I don’t know about ya’ll but that isn’t a small task!  I’m still trying to figure out this adulating thing myself. Now, I am responsible for guiding the way of others.  I don’t know about you but for me…that is what nightmares are made of.

Truth be told, I love my job as a mom, but it isn’t always the most fun job on the planet.  It’s great when you actually like the person you are trying to guide through this crazy life but liking them isn’t always the case. We are talking about mini versions of you and their father.  I know this will come as a total shock to some but I don’t always like everything about their father, (by the way he is my husband, too/still)  so when they act like their father, there may be times I contemplate packing my bags and running away!  I have thought of running away a lot more as an adult than I ever did as a child.  That’s saying something for my parents, I guess!!

I think the most difficult thing about parenting is the transition.  If you haven’t got there yet, lucky you, but it is coming!  For some it comes later than others.  For me only one has  really gone through this transition (Thank God) and it just came about a year ago.  For others I know it came much earlier.  BUT it happens!  So what is this transition?  It is when you, the mother, go from being amazing, beautiful, smart, all knowing, perfect in every way to … simply put…dumb!  You have no clue what you are talking about, you couldn’t possibly understand what they are going through.  Most of the time you speak a foreign language, and I know this because the expression on her face is what I look like when I am listening to people talk in a language I don’t understand.  It’s like, really concentrating, trying to pick out just one word that might give me a context clue as to what the conversation is about.  I don’t know if there was a moment or a day that this happened, all I know is it happened. The frustrating part is, and I tell her, there isn’t going to be anything you go through or are faced with that I haven’t gone through or know of someone going through.  Hey!!  Hey you, kid!  I can help!!!  but noooooo, I’m just dumb!

So how do we get through this parenting debacle?  Who knows?!!? For me, I scream on occasion, lock myself in my room sometimes, vanish into a world on Netflix or in a book often, but mostly I just love the hell out of them. I have told them I have done a damn good job raising amazing kids, what kind of adult you chose to be is on you!  Obviously, we will survive it all.  And I do have pretty freaking awesome kids! So I’m just taking one day at a time and enjoying all the wonderful things about being a mom and tolerating the not so wonderful things so I don’t need a straight jacket!!

Maybe my next blog post can be about what I intended to write about this time…