Do Kids drive sane people crazy?
I have a blissful day of solitude. John took the kids up to the Inner Harbor where the fun never ends...and I get to be at home to catch up on housework, have silence so I can think straight, and prepare some activities for the kids to keep them out of cartoonland when they have downtime. During such a rare day of solitude I can think a bit straighter than I do when two kids are squealing and clamoring for my attention all day long.
Ahh, peace n quiet.
So do kids drive even sane people crazy? I remember some time ago JillUser was dismayed that I'm tackling the stay-at-home-mom lifestyle ...dismayed because I'm a wee-bit mentally ill. She said something to the effect that children take a toll even on normal people's nerves, and didn't want to fathom how much more difficult parenting would be for an adult with mental issues.
I never took any sort of parenting class in high school that some of my friends did. I remember they had to carry around an egg for a week. As if that gives any real world idea of what's it's like to care for a baby. Riiiiiight. I've heard of kids carrying around sacks of flour, or even robotic, lifelike babies. Well the big bonus with those robotic babies is that they've got an OFF switch. Hey, I can tell those kids straight up that real tyrannical children do not have an OFF switch. I'd publish my findings for all the world to see if I could find that switch on my kids.
If my daughter plans to tackle this stay-at-home-mom business when she grows up, I'll be sure to give her plenty of real-world training in advance. Like having people scream in her ears while she's on the phone. Or have her cook in a kitchen that was clean just a second ago, but suddenly there are toys and playdough all over the floor, a baby climbing into the dishwasher, spilled orange juice making everything sticky.
Really though, such extremely annoying scenarios aren't entirely unavoidable. Ideally I'd like to be on a consistent mental plane in which I feel peace. One's serenity can affect their surroundings for the better. Kind of like the law of attraction, if I can feel calm and at peace, and behave calmly and peacefully, I might find that my surroundings and the people around me are affected by the calm.
I think the magic of appearing to be a joyful mother is....to smile. No matter what. But the smile can't be fake or strained. It's got to be genuine and it's got to come from within.
I discovered this last week at church when an uber-pregnant woman was helping John & me get our class of 3-year-olds from one end of the building to another. She was holding hands with one child, two more children were clinging at her dress (it's hard to walk with children hanging onto your clothing, believe me), and bless her heart, she was holding my 20-pound baby too. (Now how'd she end up holding my baby? I have no idea. )
So I went back and relieved her of my baby. Now she'd only be carrying 5 people (including herself) instead of 6.
But what a beautiful smile she wore. Maybe that's why it took me a minute to notice her plight, because she seemed to be enjoying her walk with that dogpile of children.
