Your Just Rewards

Ah, parenting. Is there anything in the world quite like it? We've had one of those spells lately where it seems like all the girls do is whine and complain and fight and cry. Sadie, especially, has been...challenging. And I can usually count on her to be easy.

So after another glorious fun-filled weekend, I commented to a friend yesterday that as it turns out, I don't find parenting all that rewarding.

These are probably the kinds of things you should NOT say to people who don't have kids. If someone had said that to me before I had my own little bundles of joy, I would probably have been shocked. I remember hearing people complain about their children before I had kids of my own and thinking, Man! Why did these people have kids if they dislike children so much? But well, live and learn. There are certainly moments in the life of a parent where you just want to scream "Are we having fun yet?!" Or where you just want to run away from home--even for a little while. And when you've just changed your fourth pair of poopy underwear (long story) in the space of an hour and have spent all day entertaining the wee ones only to hear them complain for the 15th time about this, that, or the other.... Yes, there are times when I don't find being a parent particularly rewarding. And now I'm wondering, am I some kind of aberration? Or is it pretty common in the life of a parent to have those moments where you're like, "Well, hell. This isn't all it was cracked up to be!"? (Hey mom and dad: Take the poll!)

That's not to say, of course, that I don't love my children dearly. Of course I do. And of course there are many, many, many moments where they are the lovely, well-behaved, cherished beings that make life worth living. Certainly more moments of the latter than of the former (or I certainly would have left home by now!). I certainly wouldn't trade the lovelies for anything in the world. But that doesn't mean I can't wish for a little less whining and a little more love!