Parents Unite

Two nights ago we gave Isis Pepsi and Pirate Booty for supper.  You may wonder what exactly Pirate Booty is, but the point is I don't really need to tell you because the name alone probably confirms that it lacks nutrients such as folic acid, vitamin D, or any other super healthy word.  Wash that down with a little Pepsi and we are talking about some top notch parenting.

Now there is a reason I am sharing this with all you parents.  A recent facebook post from a dear friend was a very real reminder to me that we as parents need to affirm within one another that we are all going through the same thing. Several months ago Isis was in classic three-year-old mode and after a spectaaaaaaacular tantrum, I confided in Chris that I thought something was wrong with her.  He looked at me and asked if I really thought she was the only child that acted like that.  Sometimes I think she is.  Then I hear other parents who feel the same way.

I've read too many stories and watched too many shows portraying super families whose kids are always perfectly disciplined and whose mothers are always perfectly calm AND somehow still weigh in at 103.  Well I would just like to inform these people that I am getting smarter and realizing that kids are kids and mothers are mothers and that no one can really have it that together. I have also decided that I would rather eat chocolate when I have the chance than weigh in at 103.  I would rather be sane than skinny. Sugar makes me sane.  Sugar makes me sane.  That's a good sentence.  Sometimes I think we put too much pressure on ourselves to be the best mom when really we should just be a normal mom.

So just to put every mother and father's mind and heart to rest, I would like to inform you that our household is human. And just to prove it to you, here are a few examples of things that have taken place in our home...

- Aside from Pirate Booty and Pepsi, I have also served ice cream for supper
- Setting the table sometimes means paper plates
- Isis has watched tv for over 6 hours in a single day (ok, she was sick, but it's still ok you see)
- I have handed out popsicles just to buy myself a little more time
- I have put my children to bed because I was tired, not them
- I have lured Isis into the car with gum and fruit snacks
- I have taken my children out in public wearing pajamas, pirate costumes, and barefeet
- I have heard the words I hate you
- I have let Isis pee in the bath tub
- I have spanked and been hit back
- Time outs have been quadrupled
- I hear the words poop, fart, and gross daily...usually accompanied by laughter.
- When Isis was born I went to bed after 8:00.  Now I go to bed after my White Russian.
- I have sang The Lord is My Shepherd when my last ounce of patience was squeezed out of me.

So there you have it.  Just a few tidbits of the things that take place at our house every now and again or sometimes daily. We don't have it together.  We don't weigh in at 103.  And just in case you're still skeptical, Isis cried for over  half an hour this morning because she didn't want to go to preschool, she didn't want her hair brushed, her t-shirt was wrong, her shoes were too tight, and her laces were too big.  Dear Parents...if these things don't ever happen to you, you are doing something very wrong.