Social media is a tricky one these days. I take lots of photos, and love to post my favorites! Motherhood can be tough, and it’s not really a normal instinct for me to whip out my phone and take a photo of a difficult or challenging moment. I don’t want ANYONE thinking that I live a “perfect life” or that Motherhood is a “piece of cake” because there is just absolutely no such thing. I think it’s important to be transparent. I also think it’s important for us Mom’s to lift one another up and have some great laughs along the way. So, with all that being said, I figure…since I don’t have any photos of my trying moments, I can totally write about them!! Here’s one of them.
Last Sunday I wanted to wear out Kaia’s energy early so I could put her down for a nap early, so she would then wake up early, so we could make it to Dadda’s game in time for kickoff at 1pm. SO, instead of taking the stroller on our daily walk to the pond at the end of the road, I thought why not just have Kaia WALK! Perfect solution to draining a toddlers energy, right? I mean, what could go wrong. This particular day, I was feeling overly confident and decided it’d be “totally fine” to ALSO take both of the dogs.
So at 8:30AM, we embark on our roughy 10 min walk to the pond down the street. As I walk out the door, I immediately regret wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants because it’s almost 80 degrees. The sky seriously deceived me. But regardless of my very poor outfit choice, I venture on because now that I FINALLY have 2 dogs and a toddler all wrangled up, there’s no turning back. I have no makeup on, I haven’t washed my hair in at least 7 days, I’m wearing my husbands sweatshirt (that I’ve already stained) because my pregnant belly doesn’t fit into mine anymore, and I am already in a full blown sweat. So of course, a neighbor driving by decides to stop and “chat”. My Irish Terrier is pooping for the 2rd time in 5 minutes, my toy poodle is trying to get hit by a car, and my toddler is in an all out SPRINT. I have no choice but to ditch the “conversation” to run after her as my Irish Terrier is still in the middle of taking his poop when yet ANOTHER neighbor shoots out of their front door all, “AYE RAINA! GREAT TO SEE YA HOW ARE YA?” I literally thought God was playing a practical joke on me. I blow off yet another neighbor to continue on with my sprint (more like an uncoordinated pregnant waddle jog) after my impressively and inconveniently fast toddler. Sooner than later, we arrive at the pond. DEEP BREATH. She stops and stands quietly as she looks for a frog or turtle when suddenly a man a half mile down the road yells, “HEY!!! TECHNICALLY THAT’S MY PROPERTY! GET OFF!!!!” I can’t even make this up. So I look at my almost 2 year old who’s apparently standing on private property and ask her to step back 3 steps into the road….
and. she. throws. a. fit.
It’s 8:45AM on a Sunday morning and here I am soaked from my own sweat, with my hair sticking to my face because I of course didn’t bring a hair tie. My Irish terrier is taking his 3rd poop (that he steps in), my toy poodle chokes himself out as he tangles us all up with his darn retractable leash, all while my toddler is laying on her back in the middle of the road screaming at the top of her lungs. I have run out of poop bags, a car is coming, and if I squint my eyes enough I can barely make out the angry man that’s staring me down from the end of his driveway making sure I don’t let my child put one foot back onto his property.
I somehow move our deranged party of 4 to the side of the road (moving a limp noodle screaming toddler is actually a fabulous form of exercise btw) and I remember that just before we walked out the door, I shoved a baby food packet into my pocket. DING! I’m a geniussssss!! (hair flip for being awesome) So I twist off the cap and hand it to my daughter, confident that this will snap her out of the nuclear mental breakdown. Did it? Lol of course not. She squeezed this food packet with the strength and speed of a tiny gorilla, and it exploded everryyywheeerrre. She then paused, looked at the aftermath, and went into a triple-double-sound-all-the-sirens-i-need-reinforcement-this-is-not-a-drill-everyone-take-cover-MELTDOWN. Absolute Chaos. Was the baby food actually hot lava, burning through her skin? Are there invisible flesh eating pirannhas on her? Why is this creating a traffic jam? It’s a SUNDAY MORNING. KEEP MOVING. IS THIS HAPPENING.
I had to act quickly. I scooped her wet noodle tantrum body up with one baby food covered arm, put the dog leashes in the other baby food covered arm, tried to look through my sweat soaked locks of hair sticking to my face like the girl from The Ring, and headed home (uphill of course). After 40 full minutes of sweaty horror, we made it back in one piece..but only after my arm cramped up, and my Irish terrier took his 4th poop that I didn’t stop for, so the poor guy was forced to poop and walk at the same time (which I think he still holds a grudge against me for). I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror as I walked into my house and almost jumped in horror. I was a walking Halloween decoration.
I then put Kaia down for her nap which she didn’t do…at all…of course. So the story here folks is, life may look great on social media, but that might just be because it’s hard to take pictures during challenging moments…and heck, even if I did somehow think to take a picture, I sure as chips wouldn’t post it!!! We all have our moments, and it’s our job to be honest, be transparent, and lift one another up. Real. life. isn’t. Instagram!!! So with all that being said, a little message to all you Moms out there: You’ve got this. You’re amazing. Go easy on yourself. Life is crazy, so let’s support each other and laugh about it when we can.
