A Walk in the Park... Jurassic Park

Parenting is no walk in the park, and whoever tries to tell you it is… well, either they have no children themselves, or they somehow ended up with perfect little angels. Of course, you could still refer to it as a walk in the park if you are thinking of Jurassic Park.

Kids are assholes. Plain and simple. Sure, they’re loving and sweet and ridiculously cute, but a two-year-old will look you directly in the eye and grin as they dump red juice all over your WHITE carpet. That, my dear friends, is an asshole move.

Let me tell you something else. Kids are mean. I don’t think that they mean to be, but they are just so brutally honest that they can’t help it. No one tells you that you look funny faster than your five-year-old, and she won’t even feel bad about it. Not one bit.

You do your best to raise well-rounded, polite and respectful individuals, but it is HARD. There will be times when you just want to pull your hair out and scream. They will make you cry, either intentionally or unintentionally. They will break your heart and they will break your things. They will jump off the couches laughing like maniacs and scare you half to death because you think they are about to break their necks.

There will be days when you go to bed completely exhausted… But you won’t be able to sleep because you will be too busy wondering if you yelled too much. Did you play with them enough? Did you give them enough attention? Did you go too far when you took their TV time away for misbehaving? Do they know you love them? And you will lay in bed, and all the things you could have done differently will play on repeat in your head.

So yeah, parenting is hard work. It’s hard work raising tiny humans who whine, scream and say or do hurtful things. It’s hard work trying to do everything you need to do to make sure that they don’t turn into adults who whine, scream and say or do hurtful things. But those things aren’t what you’ll remember the most. What you’ll remember are the little giggles as your toddler runs circles around you. What you’ll remember are the whispers as they hide in a closet trying to be quiet during a game of hide and seek. You’ll remember the hugs and the kisses. You’ll remember the I love you's. And, though it may feel like Jurassic Park right now, it won’t always.

One day they will be packing their things to head off to college or to go and start their own lives somewhere else. One day their room won’t be a chaotic mess that you have begged them to clean for days. One day your halls won’t have the sounds of little feet running away from you. The giggles and the laughter will leave with them as well, and return when they come for a visit. One day, they won’t need you to tuck them into bed for the fifteenth time and read them another bed time story. One day they will be grown, and you’ll be sending them out on their own, hoping that you raised them right and you taught them everything they need to know in order to survive the world.

So, don’t ever give up. You aren’t failing as a parent. You’re learning how to be the best parent you could ever possibly be. Just like the rest of us.

Like what you’ve read? Please, buy me a coffee so that I can continue to bring you new stories. 😊