The Trenches

I haven’t been updating this blog as much as I’d like because, lately, life has just been so busy.  Sometimes I feel like we are constantly going, going, going and then at the end of the day, I’m not even sure what we did.  I can see why people sometimes refer to the parenting years as being ‘in the trenches”.  Some days you’re just trying to survive and make it through.  

Tactics we used just yesterday to get the kids to eat their dinner no longer work, so we re-strategize and try a new approach.  The bedtime routine that has run so well – bath, teeth, story, songs and bed – is suddenly disrupted by a rebellion so we have to buckle down, power through, and spend 45 minutes mopping up bath water, wrestling kids into the pjs and listening to a seemingly endless litany of needs… “I need a story”, “I need to go potty”, “I need a Band-Aid”.  Or in Mitch’s case ”Mama.. Mama.. Mama”.    

There are so many things that I love about the ages that my kids are at right now.  I love we can all play, giggle and have fun together.  I love their endless curiosity and how the smallest thing can make their eyes light up.  I love to watch their imaginations at work and I love the hugs and kisses.  But, even with all this, it’s still really, really hard sometimes.  I find myself nostalgic for the baby days.  They were, at least for us, so much simpler.  Our babies were easily transportable, they slept a lot more and they could sleep anywhere.  They couldn’t care less how we dressed them, they were more easily entertained and they didn’t put up a fight when it was time to eat.   That precious time went too quickly.  Now we’re in the trenches where just getting the kids dressed for the day can be a test of patience.  The other day, Evie burst into tears because her sleeves were too long.  A few days later, she lost it because the sleeves were too short and then because her socks wouldn’t stretch to her knees.  

Mitch would just assume run around in a diaper so getting him dressed can feel like a wrestling match (one that often ends in tears).  Seriously – the kid sees us coming towards him holding clothes and he runs the other direction.  And once we finally do get the clothes on him, we turn around to find that he’s removed his shirt and is in the process of trying to take off his socks…with his teeth.  *Sigh* 

Each day I find myself more in awe and filled with even more respect for our parents.  They dealt with the tantrums, the screaming, the clutter and toys and messes too.  They know what it’s like to not be able to take your kid to a store without them asking for 500 things in the toy aisle.  They understand how frustrating it can be to not be able to get anything done and still end the day feeling exhausted.  They how disheartening it can be to finish the laundry only to find the basket filled with dirty clothes the next day.  They understand how you feel when you just made your kids a nutritious dinner, but all they’ll eat is mac and cheese. They know how tough and overwhelming it is to balance work and family time and how completely chaotic it can feel sometimes.  They know because they’ve been there, survived it and somehow managed to stay sane.  And they still love us despite all that we put them through!  Many of the seasoned parents that I talk to say the same thing…cherish this time because it goes by so quickly.  That can be hard to do when you’re so exhausted and stressed out that you’re not even sure what day of the week it is.  But I also know that it’s 100% true.  My children drive me straight up bonkers sometimes.  But no matter what they do, I love them.  I love then so much it hurts.  So we’ll keep trudging through the trenches and doing our best to appreciate, amid all of the pandemonium and fatigue, those special, amazing moments we get with our babies.