They want you.
You see this picture? My kids are wrestling each other to get closer to me.
To me.
On a day where I’m wearing yesterday’s stained shirt and a bad attitude, they are fighting to get closer to me.
Today I lost my temper. I zoned out on my phone for too long. I am at my parenting worst.
And yet they want me.
They want me on my worst day.
Your kids want you, too.
Did you have a not so great parenting day? Did you have too short of a fuse? Did you say things you wish you could take back? Did you look at your screen more than you looked into their eyes?
They still want you.
Parenting is hard, ya’ll. This phase of little people needing you for all their little needs is hard. But remember this, they still want you.
You’re it, mom. You’re what makes their world go ‘round.
You are their teacher and champion. You are their grape cutter and waffle toaster. You are their adventure pass and laughter cultivator. You are their jungle gym and their soft place to land.
Chin up. Tomorrow is another day.
But don’t forget this day. This day where you were at your worst and they still wanted you anyway. Remember this. Because although tomorrow will be better, you’ll find yourself in a day like this again.
But this day, the bad days, don’t define your motherhood.
Even on your worst days, they want you.
Behind the post-
I’m not exaggerating when I say this past weekend was some of the hardest days of my parenting life. Per his former teacher’s advice, I decided to potty train Anderson (my 3.5 year old son with Down syndrome) a few days before the start of the school year. The only issue with that was my husband was unavailable. He is in his Orthodontic residency and he had a conference that weekend. This was potty training day 4, solo parenting day 3, and although potty training was much better than day 3, my spirit tanked and I couldn’t pull myself out of the pit I was in. But, if you are reading this, potty training is going well now. I’m so glad I took his teacher’s advice. We are four days accident-free and I hope we are close to closing this chapter. In case you are wondering- I took a potty training course by Stacy Taylor while at the National Down Syndrome Congress conference and it has helped tremendously.
