Category Archives: motherhood

Feb 19 2015
Leave a comment
motherhood, realityT

Getting Real

So my cousin Bethe challenged her readers to “get real” for a second on their blogs. Social media sometimes gives the biggest appearance of fraudulent lives being led. You get a small glimpse into a persons day or week, but that’s it. That perfectly captured moment doesn’t have sound, or show the moment right before the photo or the the moments right after. It doesn’t show the mom wearing her pj’s while the baby is perfectly dressed. Since the boys were born, one of the funniest comments I get is “You make it look so easy.” Well, dear readers (ha! Stephen Bell) let me just be real with you for a second.

It’s not easy.

And its by far, not pretty.

I sometimes feel so mentally scattered and exhausted that when I do magically get them both to nap at the same time, while the others are at school,  I just sit and stare and don’t even know where to begin.

I try to take each day in stride. I feel like I have a pretty good balance for the stage I’m in.

But the other night. I. LOST. IT.

It was ugly. Like ugly cry, yelling, crying more,reality check tone of voice, and  i may have thrown a laundry bag. It was not a pretty moment. I did not make having five children look easy. I did not making being a mother look desirable. I’m sure single people would have left my house, had they witnessed my tantrum, and said “NEVER having kids”.

So let me share some things leading up to my explosion.

I have been trying so hard lately to teach the girls how fortunate they are. Not to be wasteful, overly picky, respectful of their things and those around them. They each have chores that are required of them. But they also have many rewards, because I know they are great kids. They have hearts of gold and they are respectful and kind and gentle some of the time and I see that.

But this moment, just all of it at once was too much. We were just winding down for the night and they were asking for a movie on a school night after dinner. Everyone started getting settled on the couches and I looked around and saw dishes, clothes dropped here and there, toys scattered on every available surface,  lots of “mom I don’t know where my uniform for tomorrow is” and “I don’t know where my snack bag went” and it not being a second thought that Mom will do it or find it.

And I Snapped. TV was off and they all got a really extreme version of what Mom’s actually do all day long while they get to escape to new environments. How I do not look forward to walking around picking up the same exact series of things every morning once they leave for school, or seeing the same pile of nick knacks on the stairs instead of taking them up and putting them away and wondering how in the world do they think their clothes magically appear clean each day. Full hearty lunches in their backpacks each day, when children all around the world are thrilled to have a piece of bread or fruit for the DAY, if they are even that fortunate that day. Asking me every day to go to ToysRUs, but not bringing home their jackets, lunchboxes, library books and it being no big deal that “oh well, I have other ones, or mom will find them if she cares.” AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

After my loud lecture. I had to go cool down. I overheard my husband talking to them and saying “You’re mom is the best mom in the world” (What amazing grace. I sure didn’t deserve that right then and they probably didn’t believe him in that moment.) “Your mom loves you so much and it is not easy to have 5 children to care for. She thinks about one or all of you in every single moment and action of her day.”

It is hard, people. Whether it is one or five. It is hard to raise children that are selfless in our self-centered society. Its hard to care so much. I’m sure it would be so much easier to wake up and say “Eh, I don’t care. ” But what a disservice that would be to them one day when they are all mothers, and don’t know how to teach their own children respect and responsibility and selfless thinking.

So as Bethe concluded, and every parent can agree, parenting is a like a marathon. A very, very long marathon. So I’m lacing up my shoes again today and running a little further. 

What about you?? Are you brave enough to share your “getting real” moment?? 

Here’s a post that was super encouraging to me. 


post signature

Dec 16 2010
1 Comment
motherhood, preslyn funny

Butt, Mom!!!!

I feel a little sheepish with my title, because it isn’t a term we freely use in the Munson fam-il-y, but it very much suits this post.

I can’t tell you how many times a day I hear “but MO-om” as my children whine about how starVING they are or how much they want to watch a movie or some other trivial thing. Seriously, my children as for food so many times per day you would seriously think I never feed them. On the other hand, I feel like all I do is feed them and wipe their “boonies”. The term that we have endearingly used since Hayden could speak and couldn’t get the “t” sound for bootie.

Anyway, so today I dropped off Hayden at school and decided to do one errand that I didn’t want to put off too much longer due to the long lines that I am sure will start forming in the customer service booths across America. I needed to return two things. Errands like these usually give me the hives just thinking of them, and what MAY occur during the meant-to-be-quick errand. Throw in two antsy 3 year olds and you must be prepared for anything.

So we pull up to Walmart. That in itself can gives me hives. Not that there is anything particularly wrong with Walmart. It just always seems overcrowded with people in a panic or those who are past the panic and are now in the “bulldoze anyone in my way” mode.  It’s quite frightening. And that is just if you make it in the door without being run-over by any of the said panickers in their vehicles.  

Sidenote: At one point during our trip they announced on the overhead that a small child, three years old, was missing. Please come to the front to claim her. Seconds later I see a woman and man talking frantically and the woman had that ” I just lost my child and need her back RIGHT NOW” look on her face. I also heard her mention three years old. I’m thinking Woman! Did you not just hear!??  So I say, ” Are you missing a child, three years old? They have her at the front. Did you hear the overhead?” She looks at me now panicked AND confused and says, “No, I’m looking for size 3 Tights.” Sorry, can’t help ya there, unless Ella, do you want to donate yours that you are wearing??  I was a bit shocked at the urgency she had on her face for tights. Hopefully the other mom that is missing the child isn’t wondering around the store calmly browsing through the light bulb section.

ANYWAY, back to the beginning……We walk in and since the return items are small I opt to forgo the cart until we are finished with the return. The twins each picked a small toy from our treasure toy box/extend-o closet, i.e. THE CAR.  , to bring with them into the store. So we make the return, after waiting for about 10 minutes. The girls dropping and picking up the toys, stuffing them and unstuffing them into my purse, making friends with a man in line, hugging his legs, me being horrified, giving them the stranger danger talk , and of course, every person in the line asking if they were twins. Sigh.

You’d think that was enough, but NO! I thought, lets browse the store. Maybe we can finish up some shopping we haven’t gotten to yet. I grab us a cart, Ella picks the front seat and Preslyn picks the basket. I figured this was a bad idea because Preslyn is a notorious basket-riding-stander-upper. But I didn’t feel like arguing with them if I tried to switch or deal with the flood of tears waiting to pour.  So we slowly wandered up the center aisles where all the impulse Christmas gifts were. I stop at this one bin to look at something for Hayden and am looking at it and reading and Preslyn calls to me, “Mom, do I have a pullup on?” I look over and Preslyn is standing in the basket, with her jeans and diaper around her knees. Her “Boonie” just glowing in the florescent Walmart lights. I was so tickled I could barely scold her. It was so shocking and hilarious. 

Like I said. I have to be prepared for anything. And I am never prepared for the crazy things these girls pull.
post signature