Being a mom is just hard

Being a mom is just hard


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SALT LAKE CITY — At the high point of raising four kids — ages 6 and under — I arose one morning, yet again sleep-deprived, and corralled the children for breakfast.

Pulling down the Cheerios bag I realized someone had left it open — and down came a rain of cereal over literally half the kitchen floor.

After cleaning it up, and while getting cereal for the other children, my 4-year-old bumped her cereal bowl to create one of those splattery, upturned, it-goes-everywhere messes, on the other side of the kitchen floor (and kitchen table and kitchen chairs).

Cleaning this up — with gentle, encouraging phrases like "You're gonna miss the bus! Hustle your bustle now!" — I realized that the chores from last night had not been completed. My daughter couldn't find the "right" shirt to wear and was in a tear-filled breakdown, and my other son, who had sworn to finish his homework, had instead joined everyone else and — at the hand of their father — listened intently to a sports game.


This nurturing role — the most important we can fulfill — is every day, on call, with countless variables to juggle, solve or soothe. Sometimes, motherhood is about just getting through.

By this time, the dictator in me had taken over and I began barking commands: "You — hair gel." "You — backpack." "No — shoes are not an option for school."

Then I heard that sound that makes us all freeze in midair — the sound of a rumbling school bus passing our driveway. In one of those classic mother moments that you swear you will never experience, I said in an I-told-you-so yelling tone, "You've missed your bus. Get your fannies to the stop sign and stay together."

Some days are like that.

Which is important to remember because motherhood is made up of a lot of days like that. This nurturing role — the most important we can fulfill — is every day, on call, with countless variables to juggle, solve or soothe.

Sometimes, motherhood is about just getting through. Like when our little caboose went through a serious non-sleeping period — teething, waking, growing, waking, sickness, waking. At 47, my body kept telling me, “You’re too old for this. Give it up. Get a nanny, or some really strong Tylenol … for you.” For several nights, our baby barely slept at all and my husband and I, taking turns, were at our physical and emotional parental limits.

After one more near-sleepless night, I got about an hour of rest in the morning before rising from my bed to make another bottle. My husband walked in the door to our room just as the baby started crying, again. That sound just hit me hard, and I couldn’t do it. I took one look at my husband and started sobbing. He didn’t say something encouraging like, “Buck up little camper.” He walked over and embraced me as we both knelt down on the floor together, and he held me as I cried.

Sometimes motherhood is just hard.

From the motherhood lessons I’ve learned, it boils down to this: Anyone can read books and follow tips, but the reality is that no matter the situation life gives you, you’re a mother by living it, going through it and loving it along the way.


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About the Author: Connie Sokol ------------------------------

Connie Sokol is an author, speaker, TV contributor and mother of seven. For more, visit www.conniesokol.com.

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