This post is for all of you moms out there who are trying to get a handle on motherhood. Or who feel bad about screaming at your kiddos. I don’t usually try to offer a lot of advice, but here I go.
I think that if motherhood is like a roller coaster, it is only a constant repetition of that first hill. You know how it is. You start out all relaxed and happy, leaning back in your seat with a cool breeze touching your face. Then you pause for a moment on the top of the hill, and for that moment, you enjoy an amazing view, a perfect vista of all that lies before you. The next moment, before you can even take a breath, you are plunging down at break neck speed, holding on tight, and screaming your brains out.
Yep, that’s motherhood. Over and over and over again.
Here’s an example. Yesterday I was heading up the peaceful hill. It was wonderful. The girls and I were once again hanging out in the kitchen. I was making cherry scones for lunch. Everything was on the table. All the girls were happy. I thought I would slip away for just a moment and grab a quick shower. . . . .
Fast forward to me standing in the kitchen, dripping wet, in my underwear, screaming like a lunatic and sweeping ants and crumbs out the back door!
(my dear husband choose that exact moment to come home from work for lunch, poor, poor soul.)
That’s right. I plunged right down from happy baking and relaxed shower. I rode a crazy tide of little-girl induced “there are bugs in the kitchen” hysteria.
It. Was. Awful.
But wait.
Fast forward again a few more hours! My Dear Husband comes home for dinner.
(I don’t know how he was brave enough to come back after the lunch episode but he was! What a hero!)
All the little girls are sitting up at the breakfast bar, happily learning to roll tortillas.
See how not crazy we are? We were headed uphill again at a slow, leisurely pace and loving every minute of it.
We won’t discuss what happened a few hours later. . . .
Days like this make me realize. I am not a lunatic. I am doing pretty good. I am just on a sort of uncontrollable motherhood ride.
So hang on tight everybody! Don’t fly out of your seat! And don’t feel bad if you let out a scream or two from time to time.
That’s what you’re supposed to do on a roller coaster ride!
