The kids were running wild outside the bedroom where I had finally gotten my newly-home-from-the-NICU newborn to sleep. I hurried to the door hoping to slip out without waking her. I grabbed the door handle.
The door didn’t budge. The bedroom door somehow got jammed shut with Poppy and I stuck inside. Super stuck. Like, never getting out of there unless we employed some ninja-like skills and rappelled out the window, stuck. I don’t know about you, but this postpartum, c-section momma, possessed zero ninja skills. We actually have a fire escape ladder and baby carrier under the bed just in case of emergencies. One day I’ll regale you with the tale of Grammy and the escape ladder, it’s a nail-biter…
I reeeeally wanted to avoid the ladder route so I pulled out every trick I knew to try to free us. My 2 older girls slid a myriad of tools I had requested under the door for me. I pounded, unscrewed, fulcrumed, the heck out of that wretched door, to no avail. Ellie was intensely worried that I’d get hangry during my captivity so she pushed snacks in every 10 mins to appease my gullet.
In the end, my efforts to free us from our wooden captor were futile. We called in reinforcements. My neighbor came in clutch. After trying to free the door from the outside with the same methods I had tried from the inside, he put his shoulder to the door and 5 seconds later, freedom rang. We were finally free!
Sometimes, I can’t believe the crazy stuff that happens to this family on the regular. Making every day an adventure really doesn’t take much effort around here!
This is one of those memories of motherhood that I can look back on now and chuckle about. In the moment? Not so much. The daily trenches of motherhood are hard. Really really hard. Yes, there is always joy and laughter along the way, it’s important to recognize and learn to look for those.
AND, it’s also okay (even healthy) to call a spade a spade. Life IS hard. Some moments DO actually make you want to gouge your eyes out. And that’s okay!
Sometimes, we can just let things be the worst for a while. As friends, we can witness others in the midst of their worst days and give them the grace and freedom to express their frustration without trying to “fix it”. We can uplift our fellow mothers by giving them room to vent. Acknowledge that yeah, sometimes our kids can be little minions of destruction and mayhem! Does that make you a bad mom? Nope. It makes you human.
You can remind your fellow moms that you see their struggle and you are available to listen without judgment and you are there to support. Allowing others to vent the hard and frustrating without trying to change their attitude or put a positive spin on things is an often overlooked gift. Letting others know they have a safe place with you is oftentimes the greatest help you can offer. Be kind to each other ladies. The world is rough and we need each other.
Best Wishes,
Megan Farrelly Hughes
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