Sometimes motherhood just sucks, doesn’t it?

I agree, there are lots of perks that come with being a mum, and it really is one of the best things I’ve ever done, but do you know what? Sometimes it bloody well sucks. Motherhood isn’t all smiles, arts and crafts and the happy days out you see pictures of. Yes, some days are great and you feel like you’re really nailing the ‘being a mum’ thing. Nothing phases you and you take it all in your stride, but the next day you’d much rather just curl up in bed, scream into a pillow and sob into your pillow. Which you’d then end up washing because there’d be mascara all over it as you were too exhausted to have a shower and take your make up off the night before.

Being a mum is not a job because if it were we’d be getting paid for it, have 25 days a year annual leave and occasionally be able to call in sick when you’re really not feeling it. It’s not something most of us can make a career out either – unless you fancy yourself one of those mumpreneurs. We’re lulled by other people into this false sense of security because they tell us it’s a privilege to be a parent. But is it really? These people were surely just offering the obligatory parental’ ‘it’s so worth it’ speech so that people like you and I believe them – until we have our own children and realise we’ve been conned. Don’t get me wrong, I count my blessings every day that I have two healthy children who I love beyond measure, but are they the most wonderful human beings 24/7? No they bloody well are not, and occasionally I’ll have a fleeting thought that I’d prefer the privilege be passed to someone else.

What’s so good about a toddler who puts his hands in his nappy and smears poo over cream carpets? What’s so great about cleaning up sick? What’s so fricking amazing about sleep deprivation and cracked nipples from breast feeding? I’ll tell you. Nothing. Nothing is good about any of those things, but they all come with being a parent and we all choose to do it. Some of us, more than once. Why? Especially when we know the problems will only get bigger as the kids get older.

The battles are very real every day, no matter how minor. Toby’s most recent trick is turning down more and more food that he used to eat without fuss. It’s hard to get a vegetable into him these days, and certainly he now knows which food he loves because if he doesn’t want something, he will give it straight back to you, no matter how hungry he is. He’s also a massive busy body, he will rarely sit still for long, unless he’s poorly or something on TV he wants to watch, and he’s now at that age where he’s grown out of playing independently and wants you to play with him all the time.

Teddy is not in any kind of routine for feeding or sleeping and has taken to being very clingy, so we manage to get very little done and sometimes find it difficult to get anywhere on time because he decides he wants feeding two seconds before we’re due to go out of the door – always!

I just feel like I need a little rant about a few things that are really getting to me about being a mum, and I want to know I’m not alone. My patience is usually tested a million times a day, minimum. That’s what it feels like any way and stress levels are usually at an all time high.

The house looks like a pig sty and the ironing pile would rival Everest on a good day. Some days I look forward to bed time before we’ve even gotten up! I can’t just nip to the shop, or pop into town to have a nose around anymore.My money normally gets spent on things for the boys, or the house. I have to get up when they wake up, rather than when I feel like it. Dealing with trying to find a routine between all four of us. Doing housework, only to find yourself doing the same room over and over again without actually getting anywhere – today’s a good example of that! A garden that’s overgrown and really needs some attention. And that’s just a few things.

But do I really think motherhood sucks? The absolute opposite. My kids are my world and I wouldn’t change them for anything, it’s who and what they are. I get to be their teacher, their friend, their protector, provider, nurse, maid, cook, cleaner and eventually their umpire! Being a mum is the best thing ever, especially when it’s getting to be the mum of these two boys.