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Emily Truman Tucker

Being a parent is the hardest job you’ll ever do…

Yeah, I’ve heard it, I know it, but IT’S HARD when you have days where your heart just breaks, and you feel like just crying.

Today I sent both of my boys to school Crying.

Both.

This has never happened.

And the crazy thing is, there is no logical excuse for it happening. We had a little bit of a rough morning (it took us longer to get their rooms cleaned before school, but nothing big!), and the boys both got a good night sleep, and were excited and ready to be at school. They both had smiles on their faces, backpacks on their backs, and were chattering away until we got to their classroom doors. Then what happened? I don’t know, at their doors, they both fell apart.

Tucker began crying as the students began lining up for school. And wanting to be at home playing with me instead of at school, and wanting me to be there to pick him up, the second it was over. After a bit of talking, hugging, expressing love, he went into class. Still a little teary eyed, but okay.

So we rushed home, gathered Trumans stuff, and ran off to preschool. Truman got to be the special helper today. He has been talking about this day for WEEKS. He chose to take Oreos for snack, and was so excited to be able to pass them out, and lead the class, and so on and so on. We walked in his building, and all of the sudden, right as we were about to walk into the classroom, he just froze and started to bawl. He didn’t want to go either. He wanted to go home. Again, after some talking, hugging, and looking at the fun pumpkin stamp they were using today, Truman decided to go (I knew this day meant so much to him!). Again, he was still teary eyed, but okay (and even a little bit excited to use the stamp), so I left.

Then I got home. I just sat in my kitchen for a few minutes, and wondered what had happened today, I was kind of in shock. I came to no conclusions, as to why today happened as it did. There is nothing harder than walking away from your little ones when they are upset, (even if it is just a little bit). And I began to rack my brain for preventive solutions for next time. Did they need more sleep? No. Were they hungry? No. Were they feeling a big emotion? No. And on and on, and on. But came up with nothing….

But then as I begin to take an ‘Eternal Perspective’ and realized that our Savior does not swoop down and make everything alright for us when we have our trials. He gives us tools, like the comforter, to aide us through our hard times, but he doesn’t solve our problems for us. As a mom, I so often want to make the world a perfect place for my children and help them solve their problems, but we don’t live in a perfect world, and I can never make it so. So today I am reminded, yet again, of how important it is to give my children the tools and teach them the important things they need to survive in this crazy world we live in. And begin to wonder now, what have I taught them?

Because no matter how well things are going, we need them. Even on those good mornings, when seemingly nothing is wrong.

And yet again, their is the reminder that being a parent is rough. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. But it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I’m just getting into it…so many things I still have to learn.

5 replies on “Being a parent is the hardest job you’ll ever do…”

That’s what you get for being such a good Mom. You should make it so your kids can’t wait to get out of the house… Emily, you are doing a great job and those are some great boys. When they get home all of this will be old stuff.
Love you,
dad

Three cheers for Emily- thanks for all the work you do, it makes me feel like I’m on vacation even when I’m at work. I love you.

Sadly, I don’t get to interact with you and your boys in person. But knowing YOU Emily, and reading your blog, I KNOW you are an amazing mother. You have two of the luckiest little boys in this world. And another lucky little spirit on the way. I hope they both come home from school with big smiles and exciting news of their day to melt all your worries away.

Wow. I think I needed this reminder this morning, both that it’s hard and that it’s good. It was a rough morning for us as well.

I think the only thing we can do is never give up. (Oh dear, Galaxy Quest just jumped into my mind. Never give up! Never Surrender! By Grapthars Hammer! Now I’m laughing at myself. Have a happy day!)

I finally realized that kids have bad days just like the rest of us, AND they can come on out of nowhere! I liked your thoughts on the eternal perspective because I to get lost sometimes trying to fix everything.

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