I love my girls…most of the time. Can I say that?
I remember the numerous times that my wife and I would be shopping and someone would stop to see our baby and comment “isn’t it a miracle?” My wife and I would walk away and utter… only miracle here is how long a human being can continue to function on little to no sleep. But of course we wouldn’t say that to our baby admirer. We would smile and agree about how it is truly a miracle.
Why can’t we be honest about the hardships associated with child rearing? Would we stop procreating if we truly knew how hard it is to have kids?
There were numerous times that my wife and I would ask, “why didn’t anyone tell us this was going to be this hard?” Now, to be fair to our first daughter, we did move from Portland, OR to Indianapolis when she was 4 weeks old, so she might not be responsible for all the stress we experienced.
With most hardships, it is nice to know that you’re not alone. Unlike many hardships, there aren’t many support groups for parents who are struggling. In times past the typical support group was the family, but over 50% of the population lives away from their family and unfortunately emails and Skype don’t quite fill the void.
Recently my wife sent me a video that examined “Parenting Taboos.” This video looks at those things that, as a parent, we’re not supposed to think, let alone say out loud. I found the brutal honesty in this video very refreshing and entertaining. I hope you enjoy.