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I'm Aware. Thanks.

11/13/2014

18 Comments

 
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There are days that I love. I wake up with birds singing sweetly to me, my daughter is cooing quietly in her crib, I'm able to drink a cup of coffee before I get the kids up, Chase is an angel and a great listener, and my dogs clean my house for me.


Then, there are days that are the opposite. I wake up to both kids crying. The baby is starving and Chase is crying because he's wet the bed, for the third time this week. I have to run, get him changed, and hand him a pop tart to keep him occupied while I calm down Skylar and get her fed. The dogs won't stop barking and, oh, look at that. There's poop at the bottom of the stairs. Lovely. I have to drink my coffee cold, because let's face it. Cold coffee is better than no coffee. Chase beats up on his sister all day, neither kid will take a nap, and Doritos are for lunch. 


It's always, and I mean always on those bad, horrible, please end now days that people feel the need to tell me that my kids are out of control. They tell me that my kids need to settle down and I need to control them better. They tell me that my kids are being just plain awful children.

And people wonder why there are news stories about moms punching people out...

The saddest part about this? It's usually family that tells me these things. They get frustrated because Chase is whining constantly. "Chase stop that whining!" They will scream at him. 

Hey! No! You don't get to get mad after five minutes of it. I've listened to it for about 6 hours now. You shut up. 

"Chase, stop running and jumping. The house isn't a playground."

Um. WHAT THE HELL?! Are you serious? Because you need a serious reality check. It's 13 degrees out. Where is his playground? That's right. Under a foot of snow. You clamp your mouth up and deal with it for 30 before bed. 

"Skylar needs a diaper change!"

I bang my head against the counter. I'm doing the dishes, haven't used the bathroom myself since about 8:30 am, and you are sitting next to the diaper bag. DO IT YOURSELF STUPID HEAD!

After the kids are in bed, the house is quiet, and I'm downing vodka like it's water, they choose then to tell me that Chase was too rambunctious tonight. What was his issue?

I'm aware he was a handful. I'm aware he was screaming half the night. I'm aware he threw his dinner to the dogs and dumped juice all over himself. I'm aware he was getting into stuff he shouldn't be. I'm aware he was a holy terror. 

I'm also aware that you had to hear it for two hours at most, compared to my 11 hours of it. I'm also aware that I'm cooking dinner for a family of six, and have NEVER heard a thank you for doing it so you wouldn't have to when you came home from work. I'm aware that poop is icky and smells horrible, but I've done it four times already. You can clean it once today. I'm aware that you were so ready to have the kids go to bed so you could watch Friends. But you know what? I do it at least 11 hours 5 days a week. Plus weekends, so... yeah. 

I'm aware of it all. But you can shut up now. Thanks.

18 Comments
Christine Carter link
11/13/2014 12:20:19 am

Oh mama... you TELL 'EM!!! People can be so critical and quite frankly ignorant and rude. They will never know all that us moms go through every day with our children...

Reply
Maniac Mom
11/13/2014 12:24:06 am

I think my biggest issue is when people tell you that THEIR kids never acted like that.
There are two reasons for that.
1 - You are lying and your pants are about to burst into flame.
2 - Your kids are now in therapy twice a week because they had no fun in their childhood.

LOL

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Lynne Childress link
11/13/2014 12:39:56 am

Thanks for sharing. Sometimes the looks from people are just as bad as what they say. My kid had a meltdown at the Air and Space Museum in DC in the spring, and this lady looked at me like I was letting him pour chocolate on the space shuttle. I wanted to say "You are not helping. Guess who knows this is hard? ME. Step. Off." Keep on doing what you are doing, and raising great kids.

Reply
Maniac Mom
11/15/2014 12:15:46 am

It is really hard to not make the situation worse by saying something catty to a bystander! It's almost like they don't realize you're working on some pent-up anger that you would be more than happier to use on them! LOL

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Melanie
11/13/2014 01:38:11 am

Can I just say...Thank you for blogging my own thoughts! I laughed so hard only because I totally relate and the vodka kicked in nicely! I love love love my babies and enjoy being a SAHM, but holy hell is it hard work! You are my hero for expressing so accurately!

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Maniac Mom
11/15/2014 12:16:24 am

I'm glad I could vent out what you were thinking!

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Steph @MisplacedBrit link
11/13/2014 04:43:48 am

What a terrible day (one of what may feel like many)!!!
But you feel that there are good ones too... That's pretty positive! In the pits of PND I can tell you that it felt like there were bad ones, and way worse than bad ones! What's truly unfortunate is that people, especially family often miss that THOSE are the days when they could just SHOWER YOU WITH LOVE, care, help. Those are the days when they could say, sit down hun and let me change the nappy ...Play with them ...Read them a story ...Put them to bed. "I just rung and ordered groceries to be delivered to you tomorrow so you don't have to worry about shopping"...
Days later they could pop over with cake and ask how you're feeling. How's it going with the kids, and whether you feel like you have strategies for what they're going through right now...
Because often, we know ourselves what we want to change or need to do, but it's not until we hear ourselves saying it out loud that it even registers... Someone just honestly asking us what we think!

Huge virtual hugs to you!! Hang in there ...And seriously, don't forget to ask for help ...If your day's been crap, ask someone else to fix the food. Or give them all breakfast again at dinner time... Haha! Actually, they just think that's hilarious!! And if they don't they'll soon start helping out when you ask them.

#SHINEbloghop

Reply
Maniac Mom
11/15/2014 12:17:26 am

I've got tons of help when it comes with the kids. And I use it regularly. But it comes with all those snide comments. I take the lesser of two evils and deal with the snide comments so I don't come unglued on my kids.

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Bijee link
11/13/2014 06:55:02 am

You know i was that person because my daughter who was born eleven years ago made me think babies and small kids were easy followed instructions slept when they should and yea... So i was crazy enough to have another two years ago and my son taught me what kids are really like and how much of a blessing my daughter was. I get it!
Thanks for linking up! #SHINEbloghop

Reply
Maniac Mom
11/15/2014 12:18:43 am

My husband and I did the same thing before we had kids. We would see kids screaming at restaurants and say our kids would NEVER be like that.

Um. Yeah. About that. Pretty much impossible. We have been converted. LOL

Thanks for stopping by!

Reply
Lara @ Methodical Living link
11/14/2014 12:41:31 am

Ah, I can only imagine. My first in due any day now... Seriously, fingers crossed that its today or tomorrow because if I get any bigger I'm going to explode.... But I have been having these visions of my mom visiting and then complaining about my parenting skills like she could do better. Please. I know I'm lucky to have my husband, he won't judge. And (hopefully) he'll help out more than others, but the rest of my family will not be as helpful. They'll say these things that will get under my skin and I'll feel compelled to deck them right in the face. I must remember to breathe. Maybe we should start a support group?! Anyways, good luck to you and if no one tells you this today: Good job! :)

-Lara

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Maniac Mom
11/15/2014 12:20:28 am

Congrats on the new little cutie pie!

And yes. Other people telling you how you SHOULD be parenting THE RIGHT WAY will happen. A lot. Like loads. But if you just accept that and start letting it roll off your back, you'll be much much happier.

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Alison - The Way He Plays link
11/14/2014 05:10:26 am

Those types of comments are hard aren't they! It's easy to comment and judge from the outside and I think family often forgets how hard and exhausting having young kids is!

Reply
Maniac Mom
11/20/2014 11:37:11 pm

I told my husband (no joke) that I'm going to blame it on their old age and dementia!

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Heather link
11/19/2014 10:06:40 pm

Oh I've had those maniac days! I know its not fun at all. I'm a mom of two boys as well with hardly any help and yes I too live off the coffee, but I just go ahead and ice mine so that I don't have to drink it cold. ;) Have a great Thursday and I'm visiting from the Sunshine Blog Hop!

Reply
Maniac Mom
11/20/2014 11:38:08 pm

OoOo! I'll have to start icing mine when it warms back up. When it's 3 degrees outside I have a hard time drinking anything cold!

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Katie | The Surly Housewife link
11/20/2014 05:31:37 am

Bravo to you for blogging your thoughts. It's not as easy as people might think. Hang in there dear :)

#SHINEBlogHop

Reply
Maniac Mom
11/20/2014 11:38:51 pm

Thanks for the encouragement! Thanks for stopping by!

Reply



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    Maniac Mom

    My name is Kristen and I suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder. This is my hysterical journey as a mom of two dealing with life twists and turns while trying to not let my "crazy" get too out of hand. I strive to be a happily depressed mom.
    Grab a cup of coffee or a shot of vodka and bask in the mania!

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