This Job is Stressing Me Out!

Being a parent is stressful. Whether you are a stay at home parent, work at home or have a part or full time job. It's all hard. Each situation has its own stresses and complications, ups and downs, wins and losses. We all handle stress differently, even different kinds of stress we deal with in varying ways. So why do some parents (usually moms in my experience) like to tell other moms that what they have to do is more stressful?

A full-time working parent has to deal with the stresses at work: deadlines, interpersonal issues, politics, numbers that won't add up, customers, etc. It's tiring and frustrating and makes me want to pull out my hair sometimes! I get home just in time to make dinner, feed Buddy and start his bedtime routine, which thankfully for us includes a little time to read and wrestle. But that's usually 2 hours of awake time to be with my son and then it's on to laundry, dishes, packing lunches and picking up the messes.

A stay at home parent has to deal with all of the stresses of being with a small person all day long: the potty learning, runny noses, activities to keep the kids busy and help them learn, whining, tantrums, wet diapers/underwear, toys everywhere, sticky fingers and faces that don't want to be cleaned, etc. A SAHM is with her kids all day, and although incredibly rewarding, is downright exhausting.

No matter how you look at it, being a parent is a ton of work, so why can't we support each other in the ways we have chosen to raise our kids? Each way is different, but is hopefully bringing in enough money to put food on the table, enough love to make our kids feel wanted and enough smiles and laughter to know everyone is happy and doing well. Parents do what they think is best for their children so let's all support each other's decisions and know what we are doing is right for us and what our fellow parents are doing is right for them.

Buddy loves music and exploring, so why not play with daddy's CDs?