Reality Check: Kids

Fun fact, ‘kids’ are a four letter word.

I wanted to share what happened immediately after I hit ‘publish’ on my first-ever, high adventure, carefully worded, all grown-up blog post. Literally the moment after my finger left the track pad, I rushed a crying toddler to the potty, then came back to change a poopy diaper that was, if we’re being honest, a full ten minutes overdue. All the while I was arguing with my five year old about…something.

After using too many wipes and not enough bleach pads, I loaded up all three kids with about 60 different layers each in order to achieve a thirty minute walk while the temperature was topping out for the day at 25. And, I brought the dog. See below:

The walk went well enough. I love the snow we are getting this year, and the blue sky was infinite. But the cold front (and several sore throats) meant that this was the first time in almost a week that I had gotten the whole crew out of the house. Let me rephrase that- I had been inside with all three of my children for almost a week while my badass ski patrol husband pulled six twelve-hour shifts.

I’m not sharing this to shock my readers (vasectomy, anyone?), or to complain, because my life is incredible.

But this contrast between the passion I have for writing and the lovely-shitty challenges of being a mom was the perfect example of why I love four letter words. They are the concise way to sum up the really fucking hard parts of life, but they are over quickly, and they don’t bother the people who really love you.