A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a blog and
began reading. Prior to that day? I had never read one {yes, I
realize it was 2010}. I just didn’t have time to spend online and
couldn’t understand the point of reading the life stories
of random people clear across the country. Well, things change kids and
that ONE blog happened to reference a couple of other blogs and in no
time I found myself captivated by families who were complete
strangers to me. Captivated by these mothers who
cooked meals for their families from scratch, planned elaborate birthday parties for their
children and managed to pencil in standing coffee dates with their
college girlfriends. I was enthralled by the husbands that seemingly
offered endless amounts of support as their wives
attended book clubs and workshops and yoga classes. But most impressive
of all? The meticulously dressed children who had a permanent
expression of bliss plastered across their tiny little faces. Honestly,
as a wife and working mother to a {highly energetic}
little guy, I couldn’t fathom how those women wore all of those hats so
effortlessly when I considered myself lucky if my child {I only had one
at the time} was dressed in weather appropriate clothing and had fewer
than 4 massive meltdowns before 7:30AM.
I spent nearly two exhausting years following those blogs and trying to
determine what they were doing so right and I was doing so wrong. Then? I
stumbled upon an eye-opening quote on Facebook {surprisingly, it did
not come in the form of one of those stupid, over-posted
greeting cards either. I know, crazy right?}
It seems like such a simple idea, but you guys…it
hit me like a ton of bricks. It was a much needed, much appreciated
reminder. Because at that moment? I realized that chances were those
mothers were just as wonderful as they appeared
to be in blog-land but perhaps occasionally even THEY threw caution to the wind
and declared a “find your own dinner night.” Perhaps that ridiculously
elaborate birthday party was planned to dull the pain of last year when
they forgot their child’s birthday altogether
{or not, but let’s just go with it} and their husbands ARE supportive,
but also spend 3 solid hours every Saturday wearing a plastic head set and playing
Call of Duty with random 12 year old kids. The point is, that simple sentence reminded me that people are much more likely to throw their highlights up on their blog for the world to judge see than they are those less than ideal moments.
Approximately 6 seconds after I read that quote I
made the decision that my future blog {because someday I was pretty sure
I would beat the procrastination demon and start one} would not be
comprised entirely of highlights. While I want
to remember the very few and far between moments when Tyler
recites his prayers seamlessly, without the interjection of fart noises
and Matty makes it longer than a 45 minute stretch without covering our hardwood
floors in regurgitated peas, I also want to
be “real.” Sure there are plenty of “real” days that are also full of complete joy,
but I want people to know that there is so much more to our family than
what is portrayed in glossy family portraits and the "highlights" of our
story. There are days where I am challenged
as a mother, as a friend and as a wife. There are days where our house
looks like a lego bomb exploded, in turn kicking my OCD into high gear and making me feel as if the chance I make it past breakfast without completely losing my mind is slim to none. And you know what? Sometimes, on those days, it'd be kind of nice to know that I'm not in that boat alone.
Rest assured, this next moment was...brief.
