Do you ever feel like you are doing it alone? Like Motherhood is an island you are circling all by yourself?
I have to admit, I’ve felt it. There are those days: I spend a full 9 hours trying to break the kids of a certain behavior: a phrase, hitting each other, getting up and down from the table while eating…you know the drill.
And, at the end of those 9+ hours, your patience is probably just a mite thin. In walks your husband from work. He isn’t impatient AT ALL with the kids. He left his bosses at the office…and yet yours are still running the asylum. You snap at them for fighting…he gives you a sidelong glance like, “what’s the big deal?” and you contemplate throwing the pan you are currently cooking with – directly at his head.
Fortunately, you take a deep breath and keep the pan on the stove. You’ll grab the voodoo doll of him when he isn’t looking.
Clearly, this has happened to me. And honestly – lately I have been struggling with the kids a bit. 2 and 4 can be fantastic, but also mildly insane. I speak to them and they actually pretend they can’t hear me. They refuse to eat, they play fight and someone ALWAYS gets hurt. They, all in all, are making me a bit batty and I definitely feel like THE-MOM-WHO-RAISES-HER-VOICE-TOO-MUCH. And, I hate that feeling.
But lo and behold, this weekend, my husband swam his way up to my island and I am breathing much easier now. I was upstairs getting ready for the day. He (like the champion he is) takes the crazy ones downstairs to eat. They won’t sit still. They won’t take a bite. They keep getting up and down, up and down. And, I can hear him losing his patience. I can hear him raising his voice. I AM NOT ALONE. I am not a bad Mommy after all. If they can try his patience after only a 1/2 hour in the morning…..all is right in my world because it is certainly ok that they push my buttons.
Who knew I could relish a man losing his patience? It is a beautiful thing to have company on your island. Thanks, honey!
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