I read today what I thought was a great editorial piece. http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/03/21/o.embrace.crazy.chaotic.life/index.html
Then I read all the comments. I didn't know there were so many parent haters! I choose to have kids therefore I shouldn't complain? No kids = no stress? Deal with it and stop your whining?! Wow!
We returned from a crazy weekend away yesterday. My husband was at the NCAA basketball tournament with 11 of his friends and I took the kids up to visit my girlfriend and two kids whose husband had gone as well. It's an annual thing, I go there one year and the next she and the kids come here. It makes our husbands feel less guilty though she and I are waiting for the weekend they take care of the four kids for four days while we go off somewhere. We may have a long wait. We ate, drank, stayed out too late and spent a lot of money on babysitters. I'm pretty sure my husband did the same except for the babysitter part. Yesterday was our trip home. My husband and I had coordinated flights so that we landed 10 minutes apart thus allowing us to ride the 40 minutes home together. Lucky us it was the same day that a hurricane hit Los Angeles. Crazy winds, pounding rain and of course horrible road conditions. My husband was lucky and was only delayed fifteen minutes coming into the airport. The kids and I got to circle close by LAX for over an hour due to the weather. My kids were watching movies on their DVD players and I was sleeping so we were pretty much oblivious to this. My husband however had to wait at the airport with about a zillion other people for our flight.
By the time we land it is late afternoon. We load the luggage, the carseats and the kids into the car, in the driving rain and head home. We decide that stopping for food on the way home is a good idea because neither my husband nor I want to cook and the kids are hungrey NOW. They hadn't had anything to eat since lunch because I failed to notice that they had raided the snack portion of their backpacks at some point during the weekend and we had no food or drink service on the airplane due to turbulence.
We arrive at the restaurant in pretty good shape and manage to order food that the kids think they might like. My son decides he doesn't want anything, not even the applesause. He has hit the wall and, sorry if this is too much information, he has to poop. I was aware that this situation may have been brewing because on the descent into LAX he announced in a pretty load voice that he had to do so. After telling him that we'd land soon he also announced that he'd hold it. Of course after landing he claimed he didn't have to go anymore. The great part was that when he actually went he did so in the toilet of the restaurant instead of his pants. It really is the little things. After arriving home we somehow managed to unpack and get the kids ready for bed without anyone getting hurt and only minor parental arguing. This is actually a really big deal considering just how tired we all were.
Today was a painful reentry into our routine because our routine was pretty much nonexistant. The kids just wanted to stay at home this morning and then it poured rain again so we didn't go to the park. Instead went to the grocery store which can be, and was for me today, a moms personal hell. A little fresh air would have done them and me some good because by dinner time I was ready to hand them off to anyone that wanted to take them. I proadly managed to make it through the day however without losing my temper and even cooked a healthy dinner.
Yes, my life is crazy. Did I complain about my day? YES! It was my fault for taking the kids out of their routine but that is life and you deal with it. Should I have not had kids? I can say with confidence that I am a better person because I have kids. I don't say I love it because I have to I DO love it. It is hard but rarely do amazing, wonderful, life changing experiences come easily. Not every person should have children but it suprises me that they think those that do are idiots. Do people without children never whine? I'm pretty sure I've hear some do so. I'll take a public announcement of pooping, a crazy trip to the grocery store and out of thier head tired kids any day. It is all worth it when my 3 year old hugs me and tells me he thinks I'm "tuddiful". That is his code word for wonderful. To those parent haters I say thank god someone wants to be a parent. If not who'd have wiped their butt?
