Pity Party

I have to admit that I have been feeling sorry for myself a little bit the past few weeks. Hubby has been travelling and my fuse has been shorter than usual when the kids aren’t being absolutely perfect. I wanted whoever would listen to console me and join my pity party.

After three short trips during the week for work-related meetings, hubby left for a long weekend to golf with his high school buddies. In his defense, this is the ONLY golf trip he takes all year and has been doing it every year since he graduated from college. I earned some major points with said-buddies when hubby kept his perfect attendance after L was born - just 2 weeks old (and J was 21 months) – I know, what was I thinking??

So hubby left before dinner on Thursday and I took the kids up to one of my brother’s baseball games. For some reason, I was particularly agitated this day and found raising my three angels a bit challenging. So, sitting at the game with the other baseball moms I needed to share how hard my life was. I think my exact words were something like, ‘I’m not cut out for this single mom stuff’. Now, it’s important to remember that hubby had left a whole four hours earlier and my children were really being terrible (sitting quietly in their car seats during the 40 minute drive, playing nicely with each other at the ball park --- you get the picture).

After my admission of despair, one of the moms told me how she could relate. Her husband was in the military for 12 years and being a single mom is hard work. Awesome. Now I feel like the biggest loser in the world. What right do I have to complain about being able to do fun things with my, generally, very well-behaved children?  Zero. How can I feel sorry for myself when my husband takes one weekend a year to play golf with his buddies and is almost certainly coming home on Sunday?  I can’t!

I was sharing this encounter with my sister who is expecting her fourth kid and has been having pretty bad morning sickness all day long. She had a similar experience that put her in her place. She was upset that her three perfectly healthy children wanted her to cook meals but the smells of food made her feel nauseous. She received a call from our mother who shared that one of her childhood friends, who is a mother of a young child, is fighting cancer and it’s not looking so good. Okay, so morning sickness really isn’t a big deal!

Sometimes you get messages in unexpected ways. My message this weekend happened to come from someone I had never met before and will never see again, but was clear. I need to put on my big girl panties and be grateful for all of the blessings in my life. Even when I think it’s hard, it will never be as hard as others have it.

Lessons I learned today:

·         Planning activities while hubby is away is the best way to keep everyone sane and happy

      ·         J’s first appearance as a batboy was a success and he loved it!

·         Someone else always has it harder than you (I officially sound like my mother!)