The weird thing is, is that there’s no singular really hard part of it all. Just one thing that if you could solve, then everything would magically get easier.
It’s more an accumulation of lots of little things that wear you down. They pile up and up each day, getting more towering and making you lose your balance. Then as you tend to one thing to stop it crumbling, everything else rises to fill in the space.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that parenting is basically Tetris. A version without a pause button or an off switch.
And that the reason you break down over the overflowing washing basket or some spilt cereal actually has nothing to do with the washing or the cereal.
It’s because you haven’t gotten more than a few broken hours of sleep for months. It’s because cleaning the house is an endless chore that can be undone in seconds. It’s because you can’t have an uninterrupted conversation. It’s because little people have big feelings. It’s because it’s so hard to find a moment to shower. It’s because there’s too much washing. It’s because your toddler is hellbent on running onto the road while you wrangle a newborn. It’s because leaving the house by yourself with two is just so dang hard. It’s because there’s Lego everywhere, because you never get time with your partner, because you’ve run out of nappies, again. It’s everything and nothing all at once. It’s doable to cope with one or two of these things at a time. But when they’re thrown at you all at once, a constant juggle, then each is a small fire that you need to contain. Otherwise, you’re engulfed in flame.
Is there a hard part? Maybe it’s just that there are so many parts to cradle. Maybe none of it is hard, but the relentlessness of it all that gets you down. To be needed so fully is both a blessing and a heavy weight to carry.
It’s more an accumulation of lots of little things that wear you down. They pile up and up each day, getting more towering and making you lose your balance. Then as you tend to one thing to stop it crumbling, everything else rises to fill in the space.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that parenting is basically Tetris. A version without a pause button or an off switch.
And that the reason you break down over the overflowing washing basket or some spilt cereal actually has nothing to do with the washing or the cereal.
It’s because you haven’t gotten more than a few broken hours of sleep for months. It’s because cleaning the house is an endless chore that can be undone in seconds. It’s because you can’t have an uninterrupted conversation. It’s because little people have big feelings. It’s because it’s so hard to find a moment to shower. It’s because there’s too much washing. It’s because your toddler is hellbent on running onto the road while you wrangle a newborn. It’s because leaving the house by yourself with two is just so dang hard. It’s because there’s Lego everywhere, because you never get time with your partner, because you’ve run out of nappies, again. It’s everything and nothing all at once. It’s doable to cope with one or two of these things at a time. But when they’re thrown at you all at once, a constant juggle, then each is a small fire that you need to contain. Otherwise, you’re engulfed in flame.
Is there a hard part? Maybe it’s just that there are so many parts to cradle. Maybe none of it is hard, but the relentlessness of it all that gets you down. To be needed so fully is both a blessing and a heavy weight to carry.
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