Life as a parent is hard.

It's sticky and slimy like a murky swamp.
It's all things gross and questionable.
It's exhausting and contradictory at its finest.
It's feeling every single emotion possible within a ten minute, if you're lucky.
It's finding out that you don't actually love being with people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Life as a parent is hard.

It's feeling so much love, you feel like your heart will burst out of your chest any minute now and spray rainbow beams all over your newly vacuumed floor.
It's sweet and comforting and all things amazing.
It's finding out that thought you reached the ultimate love, only to be challenged with the love that comes with having a child.
It's being surprised that you have the ability to care about someone as much as you do those little monsters you created.

Being a parent means you'll have the privilege to receive unsolicited advice that comes at the cost of your sanity and self-esteem.

Being a parent is realizing that everyone is a better hypothetical parent than a real one.

Becoming a parent means tossing out everything you thought you knew about life and rediscovering it all over again with the tiny humans that run amok in your home.

I don't care who you are, parenting is tough. You could be in touch with your zen every single day of the year and still, you will find trouble when the line of a sock isn't placed properly over the toes.

I don't care if you have a degree in psychology or social work or even child care. Nothing - and I mean NOTHING - can prepare you for the reality of parenting your own children.

I don't care if you practice carefree, free-range, helicopter, strict, by-the-book, old-school, new-age, whatever parenting. You are going to feel the wrath of a child who has skipped a nap or has decided they don't like cheese.

Let's be honest. No one has it all. No one has all the answers. I mean, how could you? How could someone know all when every child is different?

So let's all agree on one thing: Parenting is hard. Give each other a break. If you have nothing nice to say, keep your comments to yourself.

You have no idea what a parent has gone through that particular week, or day, or hour.

Be kind. That parent could be you.