Hanging on 'til Naptime

It has been one of "those" weeks.  Every mother has 'em and if you don't... well you must be either in serious denial or just plain freakin' June Cleaver. 

I love my chicklets.  I really do, but this has been one of those weeks where I sometimes question my decision to become a mother. 

“Mothers of teenagers know why animals eat their young”

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Oh, I always come back to the "yes, my life is fuller because of them" and "yes, they are a blessing"  and all that jazz, but a teensy weensy part of me daydreams about what life would be like with a little less mess, a little less noise and in the case of this week ... a lot less sassy-ness. 

I swear that Boy Wonder has (as one friend described her own son) been taken over by an alien life form.  He is at  times, nearly impossible to live with. 

"I'm right behind teenagers who are tired of being harassed by their dumb parents! Take a stand now! Move out of home, find work and pay your own way - while you're still clever enough and know everything."

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He has always been a handful, but puberty has really ignited a monster within.  Actually, he kind of vacillates between decent human being and raging beast, sometimes within seconds.  It catches me so off guard, despite my best efforts I lose my cool.  I hear myself and I think, "This Mama Hen needs to take a little time out."

The problem with disciplining a teenager is that in no time at all you begin to sound like one yourself.

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Anyone else going through this?  Any suggestions on how to handle the not so glorious teenage years?  I once read that this phase of child rearing is like riding the rapids on a river.  You're in a raft and you're all gonna make it out alive (hopefully) but you've got a lot of rough water to get through.  You gotta just hold on and paddle and pray it's all over soon.

I  like that analogy, but at the same time I don't.  I've always tried to "enjoy" each stage of my kiddos' lives.  I tried to not just look ahead, but be in the moment.  Yes, even with the "terrible twos" ... which I am going through with the Little Prince right now too (Lucky me!)  I don't want to miss Boy Wonder's teenage years and I certainly don't want to be "at war" with him the entire time either. 

Most days I can clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel, but somedays I don't.  There are days  when I just barely have the strength to hang on until nap time.  Today is one of those days.  I won't beat myself up about it, I just wish there was a better way sometimes, you know?

"I'd like to be the ideal mother, but I'm too busy raising my kids."

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