IT ISN"T FAIR!

"IT'S NOT FAIR!!!," I scream. "Remember Mommy, life isn't fair," my 7 year old reminds me. You would think he has heard this, maybe, a million + 1 times. But you know what, IT ISN'T FAIR! LIFE AS A MOM ISN'T FAIR. And so I am going to break down all the reasons why! I love being a mother, but recently there have been several things that have caused me to laugh out loud at their absurdity that goes hand in hand with motherhood. 1. A few weeks ago I went away for the night with some grilfriends. While I Was away I Was getting periodic texts from MArk about what he and the boys were doing. What were they doing? He took them to 3 seperate grocery stores to do our shopping for the week. Now first of all, this alone made me jealous. I can't take all 3 kids to one store, much less three. I, along with everyone else in the store, would lose their minds. But no, Mark was a super hero and just doing the errands, no problem. When I asked how the kids were he says, "Oh, well you know, they were wrestling a little in the aisles." Wait, what?! This would have caused me to have a coronary. I mean, I can feel the vein in my head popping out now just thinking about it! Wrestling? In the aisles? And you didn't feel people's eyes boaring into your soul with judgment and condemnation? No? Oh really! And this is what occurred to me...people weren't cursing Mark under their breath because he's THE DAD! And how awesome is this dad for taking all 3 of his kids to the store? He still has a wedding ring on, so he isn't a single dad. He's married and his wife made him take all 3 kids to the store?! What kind of wife and mother is she anyway? BUt this heroic father has so much responsibility. And we know his kids are wrestling in the aisles, but...the dad brought them to the store. That is so sweet. If it had been me, the mom, this is what people would have thought, "That mother needs to get her kids under control." And you know what, some people would have even said that. Never mind the tears that would have probably been streaming down my cheeks. There is no time for compassion when it comes to helping and understanding mom...only judgment passing time! Woohoo! It's like a party that everyone is invited to, but you, the mom, because you are the brunt of their critisisms. 2. Every morning before my feet hit the floor my childrens are asking me for something. I know, I know. I am a mom. I want to do things for my children and take care of them. But I don't even have time to wipe the sleep out of my eyes before someone is asking me for something: breakfast, water, the ipad, skylanders, fighting over something and needing me to break up a fight, or needing me to clean up spilled milk. So the other day Mark jumped out of bed at the first hint the kids were awake so that I could sleep in a bit. When I finally got up, like 2 hours after the kids had gotten up, I went downstairs and was taking my time making coffee and getting breakfast. No lie, hte kids heard my footsteps, ran upstairs from the basement, and started begging me for different things for breakfast. Are you freaking kidding me!!!! YOu have been up with your dad for 2 hours, and NO ONE asked him for anything!!!! They just got to play with their dad all morning, and he got the best of each of them. And then it's like, "Oh there's mom! Quick, everyone, whiny voices ready?!...and...GO!" 3. And lastly, this morning's "it's not fair" moment. I was helping Zachary finish his homework. He was reading his books to me, which is one of my most favorite times with him. I just love it. Anyways. He was reading to me. And apparently my 5 and 3 year old have still not learned, after 2 years, that when Zachary is reading they aren't supposed to talk to me or pet the book Zachary is trying to read. So while I Am working on homework and feeling my blood pressure rise Nate and Drew continued to ask me for things. All the while, Mark is in the kitchen making breakfast and cleaning up the milk Nate had spilled. But truly, Mark was standing at the kitchen table, Nate grabbed a clementine off the kitchen table, walked passed Mark ,and came into the family room to ask me to peel it. AAAAH!!!! There are days I honestly want to scream. Now I know that I am making Mark sound like he doesn't do much. That isn't it at all. He is constantly telling the boys to come to him for help too. He is an amazing (and I can't stress this enough)-AMAZING-husband and father. Truly amazing! The boys and I are so lucky. I just sometimes wish that I could breathe without someone making a demand on me. That I could have one sip of highly caffeinated coffee before I had to break up 6 fights over something insignificant like a sock. Any with me? Or am I standing on this island alone? Preparing myself for judgments and harsh critism, The Joyful and Tired Mom

Fire in the Hole!

I used to love, and I mean, LOVE, all things fitness. Running, swimming, lifting, aerobics...everything. It was a passion of mine, and I loved doing it. It was not a drag or a chore. I legit, loved everything about it. But true confession time...it has been years since I have had any fire in the belly to work hard. Every day I wake up and fight to keep my eyes open, and really have to persuade myself to work my muscles. But more often than not, my lazy self defeats my motivated self in my battle in my mind, and I end up not working out the way I used to once love doing. But this month I have decided to do Debbie Reichert's Fit and Healthy "Ab"Tastic Challenge. But here is the battle I faced when I started...I missed the first few days for one reason or another, and so the lie my brain was trying to convince me to believe was, "Well, if you didn't start on the 1st of the month, why start?" But no, I started on Day 4, and I will finish this monthly challenge because I owe it to myself to do so, and I love that my kids see me working on my core muscles; and love to see them exercise too.

Plus, I have started to train for another 1/2 marathon, and this is one more piece of an important puzzle that I haven't quite put together in a long time. So here I am, ready to run, ready to work, actually enjoying sore abs, unbelievably tired, and wishing that I could gain back some of that fire that drove me to pursue fitness years ago. The Joyful and TIRED Mom