Does anyone out there agree with me that the official slogan of motherhood could be “this is hard?”
I remember when I was pregnant for the first time, everyone would say, “Being a mom is so hard, but so worth it.” Do you know what that kind of advice does for a mother-to-be? I’ll be bold here and say it does nothing. The word “hard” is thrown around like confetti when it comes to parenting. It isn’t incorrect, because being a parent IS hard, but that term has become so overused, it’s practically meaningless.
Let’s Be More Creative
I work full-time outside the home, my husband is a full-time college student and we have a very active (sometimes defiant) four-year-old and a curious 10-month-old. But I’m apprehensive to label our life as “hard.”
Some nights I only get three hours of sleep because the children take turns waking up, and I tend to them so my husband can get some rest for his physics test in the morning. I peel myself out of bed at 6 a.m. to get to work. I work for eight hours, taking three breaks to pump milk to take home to the baby. When I get home, I cook dinner, clean up from dinner, play with the kids and get them to bed.
Is it hard?
I suppose, but it’s more fulfilling, exhausting and filled with laughter. Weekends when my four-year-old calls my husband “stupid,” the baby finally sleeps through the night and the kitchen is a mess from cooking our meals but slacking on cleaning up can be frustrating, but filled with sparks of hope. Sure, I could call it hard, but why would I?
Enjoy These Moments
I used to often say, “Things are just hard right now,” but I don’t think that’s giving justice to the present.
Sure, we don’t live in a big and/or modern house, but we have enough room for our family. We can have guests over without feeling like we’re competing on some weird game show about cramming people into a small space. We aren’t rolling in extra cash, but we never struggle to pay our bills. My husband is an extraordinarily devoted partner to me and father to our children, who are outgoing, intelligent and charming. Maybe things could be easier, but I still won’t call life “hard” right now.
Rather than saying life and motherhood are hard, I choose to say life and motherhood are busy, full and joyful.