I don’t always love being a parent.
I don’t always love being a parent.
& I know I’m not the only one.
I’m talking to the mum’s who have little kids, the single Mums (like me) who feel the burden of doing it alone, the Mums who feel out of touch with their partners, the Mum’s with great partner’s but who are still the ones bearing the load without much thanks.
You have experienced a good share of sleep deprivation. You feel exhaustion on the mental, physical, and emotional level. You might still be breastfeeding, or expecting another, maybe had a miscarriage or are struggling to fall pregnant again. Your hormones are completely out of wack. You’re depleted.
You’ve probably felt isolated.
You’ve questioned your identity.
You might have cried by yourself in the bathroom because you’re angry, frustrated, desperately tired and want your autonomy back, your body back.
You’re probably carrying a huge sack of Mum-Guilt. Guilt over wanting a night off. Guilt about going back to work. Guilt over the feeling of relief when the are down for a nap, or for being annoyed when they wake too quickly. Guilt over succumbing to whatever they demand because you just don’t have the energy. Guilt over the feeling of resentment that rises in you when you are the fifth time into reading the same book. Guilt over thinking what your life would be without them. Guilt for the bitter feeling that comes from the loss of freedom in my social life, traveling opportunity, spending habits, my career.
Guilt about feeling these things when there are ladies who can’t get pregnant or are experiencing loss of a child.
You feel you should be loving on your kids all the time, loving on yourself for being a Mum all the time but you aren’t.
We need to get past the idea that we have to be in love with being a Mum to be a great Mum. It’s NORMAL to have these feelings.
I want us to start admitting publicly when we aren’t loving mum-life. I want us to do this without fear of judgement. I know you still love your kids. I know that you’re still a lioness. I know that you’ve got a unique set of skills and experience and gifts that you are sharing with your child. And I know that you aren’t always on your game.
And that’s totally okay.