I'm going to admit something we tend to shame women for feeling.

I'm going to tell you the full parenting truth; the ugly mess behind our social media smiles.

Lean in, mamas because I'm here to set the record straight.

I 👏 Do👏Not👏Like👏My👏Kids👏 Today👏

There it is.

The truth.

Pump the brakes on the number for CPS, Karen.

I LOVE my kids.

I'd go zero to crazy if you looked at them sideways.

But today...today they broke me.

Most current moms were raised by women who valued motherhood but may have been forced, for the first time in generations, to work outside of the home.

That guilt spilled over into our childhoods by moms who focused their entire lives on us.

Sure, it was a different time and they could let us play outside until the streetlights came on but, when they did, our moms had likely made dinner, helped us with homework, and was the one who cleaned up afterwards.

Many of our moms doted on us, hand-making Halloween costumes and cheering at our ballgames.

They sacrificed.

Now we are the moms and pairing what we saw our own mothers do with present parenting pressures and

We 👏 Are 👏 Drowning 👏

Today was my favorite day of the year second only to Christmas morning, but my kids ruined it.

Go ahead and tell me I'm pouting.

You're right and I don't care.

The crisp autumn air and the changing leaves signaled our annual trip to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch. My. Favorite.

This day is treasured for hot apple cider, Amish sugar coated donuts, and gorgeous fall family pictures.

The. Best.

Enter my absolutely wild children.

We made the hour long car ride and everyone was in tact. I thought we were good.

We let them run out their pinned up energy and filled their excited faces with "farm apple juice" (cider).

Then it started going south...fast.

We started picking apples, but our daughter dropped the apple cart which barreled down a hill causing my husband to perform some kind of wildly impressive parkour one handed cartwheel.

We posed on oversized pumpkins where my kids whined over the sun,
the shade,
the weather,
the temp,
the apple juice,
the apples,
the pumpkins,
and about eleventy other things.

No perfect pictures were taken.

I had to share my Amish donuts.

My cider got cold while I was busy separating arguments.

Then my well-intentioned husband accidentally forgot our leftover boxes and I almost cried real tears.

Y'all I love my children but I haven't looked this forward to bedtime in a while.

So, there it is.

The truth.

I will always, always fiercely love those little fools, but some days they completely break me down and I just plain don't like them very much.

So, mama, try not to compare your kids' whiney days with Susan's little starlet's shiney smiles in the pumpkin patch. You don't know what all went down to get that perfect picture, friend.

It's okay to take a day to try and have family fun.

And it's okay when your family isn't your favorite sometimes, too. ❤️

-B.

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