I was browsing some other parenting blogs and some hot topic items to get a feel for atmosphere of family lifestyle blogging going into the new year. Staying relevant takes research and, to be honest, with the holidays, overload from work due to staffing shortages, and the rotation of illnesses we’ve got on tap in this household my creative juices just haven’t been flowing so I needed a little inspiration. How’d it go, you ask? A little bit like this…
Here's a list of things that don’t apply to you or your lifestyle at all, and therefore you could never write about:
How to talk to your teenager
Anything regarding siblings
Travelling with children
Natural fertility improvements
Here’s another list of things that, while ideal, are definitely not happening in my home:
Batch cooking meals for your toddler
Maximized productivity for work from home moms
Kid’s room decorating tips
Tips for maintaining a tidy home with a toddler
Here’s another list of things that made me laugh, scoff, then cry:
Tips for getting your child to sleep through the night
Money tips for saving for future education
Fashion trends for moms
I am obviously still an outlier, so I don’t know why I thought a google search on popular parenting topics was going to help me at all. I’m a one-and-done mama and happy with that decision. The nature of my day job is that it can change from one second to the next, so there is no maximum productivity when your entire schedule can go out the window with one phone call. Similarly, parenthood is the same. You can’t prep for the days that kiddo wakes up with 101 fever and a rash, so you have to play it all by ear and somehow simultaneously balance consoling your sick child, getting confirmation from the pharmacy that they have the medication in stock that the pediatrician just prescribed, loading a telehealth meeting to ensure all parties are able to join even though you can’t lead the meeting as intended due to being stuck at the pharmacy, texting/emailing coworkers regarding issues or to seek assistance with issues that I’m not able to handle in my current predicament, and now I’m sweating in the middle of Wal-Mart with an insurance card in one hand, a cell phone in the other, and my child repeatedly ramming my legs with the buggy while I desperately just ask for the 4th time if they finally have Amoxicillin in stock or not.
There is no tidy home while the child is awake, because the only way to get anything accomplished is to let him tornado through all his toys destroying the room I likely just cleaned so I can make it through my half hour meeting without him climbing me like a spider monkey. And all of the above is also why I rarely wear anything other than t-shirts, leggings, and ponytails. My clothes are so stretched from the “snuggles”, as he calls it, I’m constantly trying to figure out what this patch of gunk is (most of the time it’s food or paint that he’s managed to sneak out. Or boogies…) that’s been wiped on my shirt, and between my post-pregnancy hormones (yes, my child is almost 4 and my body is still wrecked from pregnancy) and the alligator wrestling required to get my child ready for most activities I’m in a constant state of hot flash and sweating to death.
But Google expects me to write a pretty post about how easy it is to be an exercising, well dressed, work from home, full time mom with an immaculate house and a whole month’s worth of meals in the freezer?
Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.
No, instead I can share the hard parts. The questions and doubts and feelings of not doing enough while feeling like all I ever do is DO. Laundry, cook, clean, school drop off, meetings, paperwork, groceries, school pick up, doctor visit, themed freaking outfit day at school again.
I can share the real parts. The phone calls to my own mom because I might just lose it today. The hiding in the bathroom for a minute too long just to have a little bit of quiet before going back out to play Legos for the 13th time with a smile on my face.
I can share the silver linings. The end of the day snuggles in bed after it’s felt like the entire universe is collapsing on my back, when my precious boy pulls my arm around him and puts his hand on my cheek to pull our eyes level so he can tell me some random fact he learned about a classmate before telling me I’m cute and whispering “night night.” The deeply grounding effect that his warm little body and his slow, rhythmic breathing gives me when I know he’s drifted off. The brightness in his eyes and his excitement when he wakes up, equally present for days that he gets to go to school and days that he gets to stay home and play with Mommy all day. The pure elation I get when he starts voicing his affirmations – I am creative. I am a good sharer. I am so funny. – without always needing to be prompted first.
So, I guess don’t ask me about fertility because no thanks.
There is no rhyme or reason for any form of productivity or organization until maybe your child is fully grown.
Some kids don’t sleep, or don’t sleep well. Like ever. But still have the energy of 1000 hurricanes.
Leggings are absolutely appropriate attire for basically any situation. Also, t-shirts can be winterwear if you’re sweating enough.
There are a million bills. Always and forever.
But that rotten baby is worth it all. I hope these mom tips help 😊
Comments