I’ve seen a quote about parenthood floating around in mommy groups: “The days are long, but the years are short.” It’s from Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project, and as a mom it rings pretty true. Heck, as a human, it rings true.
However, I would like to make an addendum: The bad days are the longest.
Cue some vintage 2005 Daniel Powter, because yesterday was a really bad day. In the scheme of the things that can happen in a bad day — an accident, a death, losing a job, a major crisis of the mind and/or body — yesterday would barely move the needle on the Worst Days Richter Scale.
And I feel silly even complaining about it. But I also think this feeling is something so many moms (and dads) face and ultimately internalize because, well, not all days can be diamonds. Every parent deals with bad moments; most times, even good days have them. And sometimes bad days have a couple of bright spots.
With everything going on in the world, in our country, heck, right here in mid-Michigan, who cares that some days, I’m not floating on a Valencia-tinted lily pad of motherhood?
Yesterday was a slow burn of a bad day. The unexpected overnight snowstorm meant school was canceled for Stella. She’s still at the point where missing school is a disappointment and not a celebration, so the news that she wouldn’t be going to school in the afternoon was a bummer for all parties involved.
Zack has been sick the last couple of days, and went to urgent care in the morning yesterday. I’ll fast-forward to the end of our Monday by saying we got the news that the results of his flu test showed he does in fact have the flu. He’s been miserable, and I’m equally praying that he feels better soon and that the rest of us can escape unscathed.
Being stuck inside the house thanks to the snow doesn’t help matters.
Without going into all of it, Stella ended up having a day yesterday. A lot of whining, crying, and raging despite efforts to make the most of the snow day without spending it watching and rewatching the new “Trolls” series on Netflix all day long. Ten minutes of sledding outside was met with an hour of complaints and vows that she will never go sledding again.
You ever have those days or moments when you could swear that your child is possessed?
After we had her spend some quiet time upstairs, she and I ventured out to Target while Margot napped and Zack rested at home. It felt good to get out for a bit, and we found some great deals on shoes for her.
Side note: the Cartwheel app has a coupon for 20% off clearance items. With many shoes on clearance for under $6 already, there are some really good finds right now.
Things were looking up. At bedtime it felt like I was home free. But as I was getting ready to read to Stella, she said she accidentally did something to the wall while she had been upstairs in her room. I looked and saw pen drawn onto her wall. Then she also had me look at the inside covers of two Dr. Seuss books, where I found pen drawings and scribbles all over. This, on top of the flu news, was the cherry on the top of a bad day.
Yesterday afternoon I became the person who had to talk myself through the decision of whether I should make for another cup of coffee or pour myself a glass of wine. It was 1:00 p.m. so I made coffee.
By yesterday night, I had red wine, some Halo Top, and “The Bachelor” to send off the day.
If you’ve made it this far into my case of the Mondays, you deserve to know that there was another bright spot. Something better than cheap kids’ shoes at Target.
While I typically don’t expound on my mommy woes on social media, I made several updates to my Instagram story throughout the day yesterday. My Insta story from yesterday truly showed the rollercoaster of emotions happening at the Pohl house.
And what happened when I served up some real life? I had so many people reach out with messages of “you’ve got this mama” and at least two prescriptions of wine! It felt really good to know that I’m not alone. Like “Into the Woods” says, “no one is alone.” Without opening up and sharing what was going on, I wouldn’t have gotten those encouraging words.
As I cuddled with Stella last night before bed, I said that while it was a bad day, tomorrow is always a new day. I told her that not just for her, but for myself as well.
I would have also told her that the sun’ll come out tomorrow, but it’s Michigan. I can guarantee each day will have its rose and its thorn, but I can’t guarantee a sunny day.