Challenges of Motherhood

Last week I posted The Best Thing About Mommyhood, so just to keep things even, today I am going to write about the challenges we face as mothers. Again, I polled some friends and it definitely looks like there are three common issues we all have some difficulty dealing with.

First, there’s the crying.

When your little one is crying and you cannot get him to stop b/c you really do not know what is wrong or it is out of your control.

There are definitely many challenges, but I would say the most challenging time I have had to face was trying to figure out what my newborn baby needed when she cried, without losing my mind! (The colic didn’t help this first time Mom, either!)

I remember as a newborn, my son was pretty fussy and it was very heart breaking and stressful trying to figure out what was wrong with him. It took some time to learn his signs and signals and even then, there were times when he’d cry for no apparent reason at all. As they get older, it is still extremely difficult to see them hurt or hear them cry.

I think that since my son’s birth, the past few days have been the most challenging. He has a mouth full of teeth, but he never really had problems when they came in before. He is now older and getting his two bottom pointy teeth and he has just been crying, not sleeping and so sad for the past two days. I do not know who the pain is worse for me or him.

Last night she was so congested and there was nothing you could do! It absolutely broke my heart!! You do everything you can to make them comfortable but sometimes nothing works and you just have to sit with them and love them even if it means staying up all night!

Then there’s the sleep deprivation and “time” thing. I can attest to both of these issues. I know my situation is not typical, but at 20 months old, my toddler still keeps me from getting a good night’s sleep most of the time. Oh and wanting to do something by myself? Ha!

Not being able to sleep in late on a Sunday, and the lack of time to take care of myself are my two biggest challenges. I used to have a mani and pedi each week; my hair was always blown out… these days I wash my hair once a week and get a mani/ pedi once a month if I’m lucky. I can’t remember the last time I was able to sit down and enjoy reading a magazine cover to cover at my own leisure. My time is no longer my own and that is sometimes hard. It has taken me a year to get to this point but I am now looking forward to leaving my son for a night or two and getting some time alone with my husband. More than anything, I can’t wait to have the opportunity to sleep in till noon for one morning this year! However, Murphy’s Law will make sure that I wake up at 7am anyway!!!!

It has been such a change putting all of my son’s needs first. It is no longer all about what I or we (my husband and I) want to do, it is first about what our son needs or would enjoy. That is difficult at times.

My time is no longer my own, it’s all my son’s!

Some other complaints I got were:

changing diapers

temper tantrums and whining

The worst is the routine that beings again every morning….will the house ever be clean? Can I get out of the kitchen? How many butts do I have to wipe a day?

I totally get it, as I’m sure the rest of you do too. However, I know that each and every one of us would not change it for the world, challenges and all!