“I saw a comment by someone on a post saying, ‘Why do we applaud mediocre parenting?’ As a mommy blogger who is very candid about my daily struggles, it’s been written about me too.
Mediocre parenting, eh?
So you are up all night with a teething baby, and then you go to work or you wrestle the day with your kids, or your one child who won’t sleep anywhere but on you, or who refuses all your good cooking (your kale and organic truffle pig hunting bacon) and if you’re home – you try and get through the loads of washing that literally never end because hey, your kids are messy freaks who miss their mouths a lot, and leave burn outs from their cute butts all over their underwear, and while you are trying to feed the baby the toddler throws her food everywhere, then doorbell rings and some wanker wants you to sign up to some deal where you have to pay up front to get a mechanic and your boob is hanging out while your kid who refused to put on socks – even though you used your BEST gentle parenting techniques to convince them to do it when really you wanted to become a T-REX and yell PUT ON YOUR SOCKS! – is running on your front lawn in the rain. Or your boss who thinks overtime should be free is riding you all day and you get home or your partner gets home, you try to clean, you try and cook dinner, you have pee running down your leg because you forgot to go because you’re so caught up being an octopus trying to get everything done and perfect (and not at all mediocre), so you burn the dinner and give them Rice Krispies instead, you post a picture of them eating said cereal while you’re sipping a wine because you are so wound up and stressed your blood pressure is 4,000 over 80 (I’m not a doctor ok, it’s just really HIGH) and someone says, ‘Good job Momma,’ while some other butthead says, ‘Why do we applaud mediocre parenting?’
Are you FOR REAL?
You are not a mediocre parent if you save arts and craft for daycare and instead of watching them lovingly and tentatively while they paint your dining table.
You’re a parent.
You are not a mediocre parent if your nipples feel like they’ve been cheese grated so you switch to formula, you’re a parent.
Or if your baby didn’t come out the exit you hoped it would and ejected out of the sunroof instead.
You’re not a mediocre parent if you let your kids run naked on the lawn and hose them down because they refuse to bath, you’re a parent.
You’re not a mediocre parent if you struggle sometimes and your life isn’t Pinterest or Instagram perfect, you’re a parent.
So, yeah, let’s take away the word mediocre and applaud parenting, BECAUSE THATS WHAT IT IS. Because it’s a jungle out there and it’s hard. Because your struggles and my struggles are different, and her struggles and his struggles are different, just like our triumphs and victories are.
So, a standing ovation to all the parents who are real and doing their best ERRRRRDAY. Who love their children and would fight like ninjas to keep them safe and happy, and even give in to their request for kinder surprises, so they don’t have to hear them whine. You’re the real MVP.
Mothering very perfect and there’s nothing mediocre about you.”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Laura Mazza of Mum on the Run, where it originally appeared. Submit your story here, and subscribe to our best love stories here.
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