I’m a weary, worn-out mama.
I thought {mistakenly} that raising teens/young adults would be easier than littles.
I remember how excited I was when my youngest was finally potty trained and we said goodbye to diapers. And, when they could tie their own shoes and wash their own hair? I thought it couldn’t get any better than that!
These days I am completely relating to a saying I once heard “little kids are physically exhausting to raise while teens are mentally exhausting”. I would add teens are spiritually and emotionally exhausting as well.
Don’t get me wrong…I am not knocking the moms in the trenches of bottles, late night feedings and toddler tantrums. I remember those days vividly! And, I know those days are hard.
Toddler in Bathrobe Flickr (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
These days are hard too.
And I have far less control of the outcome.
The people they date.
The friends they choose.
The decisions that will affect their future.
My kids are spending a lot of time pushing, stretching, and tap dancing on the limits their dad and I set.
Some days, like yesterday for example, when I actually got mad enough that I threw a sneaker at my 15 year old {yes, I apologized} we just look at each other and say “What now?”
I don’t have a lick of advice to offer another parent when I feel like I’m the most inadequate mother on the planet.
At this point, I’m going to do the only thing I know to do when you have reached the end of your proverbial parenting rope…
get on my knees and have a conference call with the Ultimate Parent.
What do you do when parenting knocks you down?
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