Truth in Blogging

I started this blog when my girls were a year old. 

The girls’ first year was a hard one in a lot of ways…the uncertainty of new motherhood, the exhaustion, the rollercoaster emotions…the seemingly endless cycle of feeding babies, orchestrating wake-time activities, and adhering to the rigorous nap schedule I’d set…then rinse and repeat.

Still, even at that time [save for the first couple of months, anyway], I felt a sense of balance, at least in the longer term, bigger picture…hence the name of my blog and tagline, “Thank Goodness the Triumphs Outweigh the Trials”.

While I think of myself as relatively glass-half-full, I don’t necessarily feel like a happy-go-lucky person.  I don’t speak in a perpetual singsong voice.  I don’t walk around with my head in the clouds, and I know that life is not all rainbows and butterflies.  I think my approach is one of assessment of the current situation, followed by the development of a plan of action.  (This approach was born out of my time in the business world.)

So how does this relate to my blog?

I know I tend to focus on the rosy parts of life with my baby girls.  It's just so natural, so easy to do!  They’re smart, they’re fun, they’re energetic, and I feel so incredibly blessed to be their mommy.

Still, that doesn’t mean we don’t have our “challenges”.

I know I’ve written about the poop-smeared crib I found once upon a time…about The Most Draining Week of My Life when Baby A started potty training…about avoiding phone calls because the girls decide that’s the moment to attempt to swing from the chandelier…

…and on a Mommy note, I’ve written about not bonding with the girls immediately…about Mother’s Day being bittersweet…about putting the girls in the car to go through the Starbucks drive-through, just to have them stationary in their car seats for a few minutes and give myself a little break.

Those are more memorable challenges, but I can assure you that we have challenges in some form or fashion every day.  Trust me.

I think our girls are pretty well-behaved, but they still push their boundaries.  They make messes.  They often look with their hands more than with their eyes at the grocery store.  They sometimes cry when they don’t get their way. 

And I certainly have my moments, too.  I have raised my voice more times that I want to count, I once spanked out of frustration (spanking not being part of my discipline tool box), and on several occasions I have broken down in tears, thinking, “I just need a break.”

But I rarely write about those daily challenges.  

It’s not that I’m trying to paint a picture of our life that is sweeter than what it really is.  I’m not trying to suggest that our life is completely blissful.  And I certainly don’t mean to attest that I know more than any other mama about navigating parenthood, or that my girls are any sweeter / smarter / more mannerly than average.

I guess I think about the daily challenges as being just what comes with the parenting territory.  At least for me, I think I can still “keep it real” and choose to focus on the many little things that amaze me every day.

While I'm not always presenting the entire [raw, in-the-trenches] story, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.