Category: Useless Opinions

Posted in Musings, Useless Opinions

How do you mom when you really don’t want to?

Posted on by Court For Short

Birdy does this thing where when she’s really tired and something’s pissed her off, she’ll cry and lay on the floor face down while wiggling her butt up and down like a worm. It’s very funny. She disagrees, but like… Who likes being told they’re cute when they’re mad?

I am feeling that way today. I’m not in a particularly bad mood or anything.. I just… really don’t want to mom. At all. This happens fairly often to me (and I assume many, if not all moms) but some of these days are worse than others. I’d rate this one like an 8 out of 10. The resistance is there but the frustration is not. I’m sure the frustration is on it’s way. Today it’s just indifference. Not towards my kids, they’re sitting happily eating their fruits and lentil crackers. I made them a nice mushroom and cheese omelet, tickled them and pretended to eat their feet on the change table, etc. I just really don’t want to.

So – to restate the question – How do you mom when you really, REALLY don’t want to? Sorry.. I don’t actually have an answer for you. I know. So misleading. When I really don’t want to mom, and I have no one to pawn my kids off on, I do the same thing you do. I just do it anyways. And it really sucks.

I wonder if I’m the only one who feels more exhausted after a break. I’ll go to my mother-in-law’s for the night with the kids, or even leave them there, and by the time I’m back to being a mom I am even more opposed to parenting. Don’t get me wrong – I am VERY grateful for the break. But like.. Jesus. Is it just because it isn’t a very long break? If I got a week, would I be more inclined to go back to being a mom? It feels like the times I’m most “on it” are when I haven’t had a break in a while.

I’d like to be clear in that I do like being a mom. I adore my kids. I hope I’m not making it sound like I spend every day waiting for it to be over. That does happen, but mostly I like hanging out with them and watching them grow. They’re insanely smart, super funny and obviously cute as hell. But holy fuck is this job exhausting. I might have written about this before, but I know I was having a conversation about it a while back. This is the most engaging and difficult job I’ve ever had, but also the most boring job I’ve ever had. It is an intense dichotomy of emotions, and it brings on a lot of guilt and feelings of inadequacy. Boredom is a brain killer, so that’s probably one of the leading causes of mom brain. I always feel like I should be doing so much more with them. I don’t know how to grab their attention, and I don’t really know how to play with them without toys. I see my family and friends playing with them and they’re so engaged, I feel like I don’t really get that level. I want to take some classes or read some books about it, but I’m so exhausted with life and a lack of it that I am not sure where to fit it in.

And now I’m trying to get back to work… The way I see it, a job is going to go one of two ways. Hopefully the responsibility and schedule will revive my brain and boredom, and still leave me exhausted but in a more satisfied way. If this is the case, I am hoping it will help me engage with my kids better and have more energy for them. Otherwise, it’ll just exhaust me that much more and my kids will suffer for the lack of energy. At that point we’ll have to figure out if it’s worth me having a job, because we’ll likely be breaking even with the cost of childcare. If there’s no benefit, there’s no point in me doing it. I feel like I need a job though. I’ve never not been bringing money in. This last year I’ve felt very…. Useless. Which sounds ridiculous cuz I’m raising two babies. But it’s true. It’s amazing how bored and unaccomplished I feel. I think a job can resolve that.

I’m hereby making a commitment though, that being a mom is my first job. If the job is getting in the way of me having the energy or wherewithall to raise my babies, I will quit and figure something else out. It would be amazing to have the extra income so Dave and I can buy a house. Trying to win the lottery hasn’t been working out.

I feel like we’ve gotten a bit off topic. Leave it to me to take a normal conversation and turn it into one about my feelings of inadequacy. I guess that kind of thing is easy when you spend two days periodically writing out something that’s suppposed to be a continuous thought. Basically, my best answer is…. I dunno. A stress ball? Freezing baby food on your more energetic days so you can be a lazy mom on other days? Invite friends over and ‘accidentally’ fall asleep on the couch while they’re playing with your kids? If there was an answer, someone would have found it by now. But this is probably something that’s plagued moms for centuries (and probably a lot worse in the past when women had fewer rights than cattle…)

I wish you luck and stiff drinks. Let me know your favourite mom short-cuts for your lazy days 🙂

Posted in All, Useless Opinions

How to help a new mom/pregnant lady (mostly for non-parents)

Posted on by Court For Short

This might seem kind of obvious, but I had a lot of really useless (but well-meaning) helpers when the kids came home so I thought I’d write a bit about it. This isn’t meant to be angry or bitter…. Just informative.

I’ve always been super defiant and obnoxiously independent, even when I was pregnant. We moved into our current place when I was 7 months pregnant (and huge) and my mother-in-law basically had to guard me to make sure I wasn’t doing any moving or serious unpacking. It drove me crazy but I understood, and underneath my defiance I was grateful for the help. The last thing I needed was to go into labour early (joke was on me anyways, I went into early labour 19 days later…)

Once I had the kids my ego dropped a bit. I knew I needed help. Watching the state of my house deteriorate was frustrating but I could do fucking nothing about it. I was drowning in newborns! I was at the hospital during pretty much all waking hours for the first 6 weeks of my kids lives, then after that the real work began. We had a cleaning lady for a bit but then COVID hit and she had to bail. But even before that I’d have a few of my friends come over to “help.” It was super frustrating. Not only was my perfectionism clashing with my not giving a fuck, but I was also so overwhelmed with becoming a parent – to twins no less. I had zero brainpower. Plus I was going through some sort of nesting phase where I just didn’t want to see anyone except my husband and my babies. I think this is important to mention because before kids I was incredibly social and loved to be around my friends. I still do, but it’s different now. I get way too exhausted to catch up or visit.

Anyways, these few friends would come by – well-meaning as they were – and ask me what I needed them to do. All I could muster is “I don’t know. Just come chill and hold a baby.” What I should have said was “yes, please do the dishes. Cut the veggies in the fridge. Watch these kids while I sleep/shower/leave the house for half an hour to see what the outside world looks like.” Because that’s what I really needed. I was just too brain-shot and sleep deprived to realize it. My mind went blank when they asked. And then I got somewhat resentful because they put me in a position to ask for it. I’m awful at delegating. I am way better at just doing things myself. There was at least one time where I just got people to hold or watch the babies while I got up and cleaned (which wasn’t the worst thing ever because at least I felt like I was accomplishing something. I didn’t find the first couple months of being a parent to be that rewarding. More on that later.)

Moral of the story – if you have a pregnant friend or a new mom in your life and you want to help, here’s a few ideas to get you going.

  • Bring snacks or prepared meals -The first 1 to 3 months of being a parent is a fucking blur. It’s hard to make time to eat, let alone put a meal together. Plus it’s nice to have finger foods or snacks when you’re living one-handed and it’s too easy to eat shit food all the time.
    • Make a lasagna or a shepherd’s pie or something for the freezer. Write reheat/cooking instructions on it so no brain power is involved.
    • Bring leftovers from the meal you made the night before.
    • Bake mini-muffins. See above comment about living one-handed. Morning glory muffins are a good way to get some veggies and vitamins. And it tastes like cake.
    • Bring washed and cut veggies/fruits. Good for the brain AND the butt.
    • Bring trail mix or something
    • Fuck it, bring chips and cookies and candy. Comfort food, yo!
  • If you want to help clean – just clean
    • Don’t ask what needs to be done. You can see what’s up, just pick a task and go to it.
    • If you feel the need to ask, maybe go about it like “hey I’m gonna do the dishes, is there something else that’s been bugging you that I can do first?” I bet you dishes is going to be the number one frustration. Or garbage. Or laundry….
  • Don’t be there just to chat
    • This one is tricky, but I’ll put it on cuz it’s how I felt. Your friend probably loves you but is super overwhelmed. If they want conversation, they’ll probably talk to you. Otherwise maybe just kinda hang out. Or don’t.
  • Help with kids (if you can/she wants you to)
    • Some moms are attached enough to their kids that they won’t want anyone really helping at that point. Some kids are so attached to their moms they’ll lose their shit if anyone else holds them. But in the event that kiddo takes a shine to you, let mom go get some sleep. Or maybe she wants to go for a drive or walk or something. Offer to hang while she goes to just be her for a minute, not mom.
  • Offer to pick up groceries or something for her
  • If you can’t do any of these things, don’t bug her.
    • Feel free to send a “hey, thinking of you” message or something but don’t expect a reply right away. The few friends I’ve had that have had babies since I had mine I specify that I am not expecting a reply at all, let alone in a timely manner. Shit is exhausting and overwhelming to say the least. I still have trouble talking to people. I just want to nest.
  • DON’T buy bouquets of flowers.
    • They’re too busy to change the water and they’ll likely just sit there dead and moldy for a few weeks until they start to stink.
  • DON’T stay too long. Hour or so is plenty unless you’re cleaning or whatever.
  • DON’T show up unannounced

This list obviously comes from my experience, and everyone is gonna be different and have a different take on it. But hopefully this offers a decent guideline for non-parents to help their new parent friends. I feel like if I had no kids I’d have zero idea about most of this. I remember when my close friend from high school had a baby almost seven years ago. I didn’t hear from her until a month or two later, and I was kind of offended she didn’t tell me right away. I actually think about that a lot lately, and laugh hysterically at myself in my head. If I only fucking knew…. If you don’t – I can only tell you that it’s an inexplicable experience. No one can prepare you for the changes in your life. It’s like a train wreck of hormones, emotions and more responsibility and work than you could imagine. It’s pretty rough for that first month or two, and stays rough for a while after. So cut your pals some slack!

Have you had a similar experience? Agree or disagree with things on this list? Comment and lemme know! I’d love to hear it.

Posted in All, Musings, My Story, Useless Opinions

So, I guess I’ll start a blog…

Posted on by Court For Short

I write this as my twin babies are being held by my fiance and mother-in-law. I started earlier with this super fantastic, amazing intro post but it met a fitting end. I reached over the computer to put a soother back in a baby face and closed the browser with my tit. Derp. Welcome to “My Tits Hurt,” so named for the thing I’ve said the most since I got pregnant. Might have even been the thing that tipped me off in the first place.

I figured I’d start blogging. Something between a mommy blog and a personal therapy journal, maybe. My grammar has gone to shit since the days of high school English (or maybe ‘Communications’ in College..) But I still feel like I can form coherent sentences. I guess you can be the judge. I did a lot of writing up until I finished high school. From little stories about animals in homemade storybooks in the early days of elementary school, to writing emo poetry in the early teens, and some epic short stories and essays in later grades. All lost forever. Man, I wish I could get my hands on even half of the stories. That shit was impressive! I digress.. I always say I’m going to start writing. A novel, a movie or TV script… A blog? Lately I feel like I have something I could start on. Maybe this will help me get past some intense writer’s block and I’ll get all of that done! I always found writing to help me sort out my thoughts. Being a new mother to twins in the middle of a pandemic – I have done a lot of thinking lately.

Life is funny. I used to judge people on their parenting long before I had kids, and think about how much better I could do it. I can hear Nelson Muntz pointing and laughing at me now for that. I’m learning just how much work it is, and how wrong I was about so many things – minor and major. For example: I was really cocky about postpartum depression. “I’ve dealt with my mental health problems, I have all the tools I need,” I said. In the words of 2007 – ROFLCOPTR. That shit hit me like a sack of hormonal bricks. Or like… How to ease a baby back into sleeping in their bassinets that just don’t friggin’ want to. Plus simple, less life altering things. How to make a baby registry. How to organize my nursery ahead of time so I don’t have to do it 6 different times while dealing with two f*cking newborns and a partner that works full time. I dunno. Just stuff I wish I knew, or maybe researched a little better before the babies came.

So – things about babies and things I wish I knew about babies. But also me working out my postpartum shit, and trying to figure out how to be the amazing parent that I decided I would be long before I even got pregnant. I want to have calm, cool and collected kids. And to have that, I’ve decided I have to step up and become the absolute best I can be. Put that up against time and energy levels… I don’t want to just half-ass it and expect them to learn how to be the best through instruction though – kids learn by example! Or seem to. Again with the parenting ego. I’ve had a lot of deep thoughts lately about parenting and how I want to do it. I’m learning a lot about how my ideas stack up against their individual personalities. My kids have SO much personality and they’re only 4 months old. And I don’t want to be the type of person that tries to break them to meet my ideals. I have to be able to work with their already amazing selves and turn them into amazing human beings. Ah – What a struggle! So I figure if I can get back into writing, maybe I can use it to sort my thoughts out and figure out what I want to do. I’d love to have people to get into the comments too, I wanna learn everything I can from people. I have no ego! Examine all the angles. Maybe we are going through the same shit, or even better – maybe we disagree and can discuss it. Or maybe I attract some haters that think I’m a bad parent. I’m good with that.

So, there you have it. The Diary of a MadMom. A candid, open-dialogued… I dunno, account? Journal? Diatribe? Let’s go with barely concise rant rife with curse words. And opinions. And probably bad grammar. Maybe even a pun or two. I truly hope you like it!