Dear Moms,
I see you, I see that exhausted look all over your face! I see that you are slowly breaking down every time your toddler throws a fit when you tell them “no”, or when your baby who is super proud of his new teeth starts biting every thing in sight, including his um “food source”…which results in you letting out a possibly scary “NO” which breaks his heart, I see you…Every phase of life comes with new trials and new challenges! Every day there is a struggle with myself on whether or not I’m failing at this motherhood thing. It’s hard y’all, there are days when I just don’t want to. I don’t want to put my kids in time out, don’t want to spank their tiny honeys, don’t want to redirect, don’t want to tell them “NO”, don’t want to put forth energy getting on to them for the 1293410293 time about being rough with their baby brother…I just don’t want to discipline every second of everyday and then I remember…
It’s my job. It’s my job to discipline them. It’s my job to set boundaries whether they like it or not! It’s my job to make sure I am doing everything in my power to make sure I am raising the best little tiny people I can because guess what?? They won’t be tiny forever! They will be someone’s wife/husband someday, they will be someone’s forever, someone’s rock, someone’s parent, maybe someone’s boss or teacher and I want them to realize what it means to be accountable for their actions. I want them to know that life is hard, it isn’t always fair, but it is beautiful! Every single phase of it. The ugly days, the best days and the days where you just don’t want to!
I saw a mom on Facebook reaching out to other mothers about disciplining and how to deal with those hard days where you patience is running thin and nothing you seem to do is good enough and I just wanted to hug her, because my oh my have I been there, heck I’m still there and somedays I feel like there is no end in sight. Most of the replies she got we’re on point and then there were some that just didn’t grasp how I want to raise my children! Somewhere along the lines of ‘just pick her up and love on her she’s only little for a little while’ and while I agree with babies don’t keep…I also want to remember yes, they are only little for a short while and then they grow up and I want the days of discipline and teaching to be my best days because once they leave us, they need their upbringing more than ever to face this crazy world….
So just remember it’s hard to be consistent with that sweet little baby face who curls their lip and cries when you tell them “no” or to the toddler who just keeps pushing the limit but just hang on to the fact that you are teaching them far more about this world in these “baby days” than you could ever imagine mama!
Giving you a virtual hug,
-the mom who doesn’t want to somedays
Disclaimer: I am by no means claiming that I think all kids respond to the same forms of discipline, please do what you feel is right for your children!
It’s such a fine line. I’m with you…I don’t really want to cuddle them when my toddler is screaming and pulling things off the shelf at the store.
It’s so funny what changes when you become a mom. I would judge the moms with the screaming kids and now I want to give complete strangers virtual and actual hugs.
The cuddling style needs to preempt the tantrum. But once it is on the need yo know you don’t approve of such behavior. I have 7 kids and the 5 in the middle were all reasonably easy toddlers but my current 2 year old is giving me a run for my money!