10 Things Moms Aren’t Allowed to Complain About
I’m not one to complain.
I’m one to smile.
And shrug my shoulders.
And move on.
But every now and then I hear myself grumbling about something that really shouldn’t be complained about.
In fact, just last week I was complaining to my mom and she said,
“You know, Anna… you really can’t say this out loud to anyone else. Okay? Seriously. Promise me you won’t blog about this.”
So I immediately sat down at my computer and started writing.
And then I realized that she was right. (Thanks, Mom!) and instead I compiled a list of things that moms are NOT allowed to complain about. I will admit that some of these have actually come out of my mouth.
Some I’ve overheard (I can tell you right now that #5 has never crossed my lips!)
All of them are off limits.
1. My FIVE year old is giving up his naps.
2. The clothes at Ann Taylor Loft and the Gap are too big. I can’t even shop there anymore.
3. My mother-in-law is watching the kids AGAIN tonight, which is so nice of her, but sometimes we just want to stay home. I mean – uggg – what are my husband and I going to do tonight?
4. My kids are at school all day long. I miss them.
5. Sometimes I’m lonely in the bathroom.
6. Anything that starts with, “When my husband does the laundry…”
Or “When my husband was cleaning the bathroom yesterday,…”
Or “My husband always forgets my XYZ when he’s doing the grocery shopping”
7. I might have to stop breastfeeding – I’ve lost way too much weight.
8. You know how sometimes you get too much sleep, and then you feel off for the rest of the day?
9. My husband is such a grump because the baby had him up so many times last night.
10. Help me out – What would you add?
My baby only napped for two hours today!
I don’t know…I really do miss my older two kids when they’re at school… but the rest of the list! YES!
Great list and I would add, I shouldn’t complain that I had trouble falling asleep, even though my kids slept through the night!!
I get the same reaction when I complain about my boobs being too big. But for reals, they are! PS, if number 2 is true for you, I’m just not sure we can be friends anymore.
I’m w Valerie…I do miss my older girls when they are at school sometimes! How about this Mother’s Day complaint: my family puts too many carbs on my breakfast in bed tray!!! ( I never voiced this complaint but I remember thinking it a few years in a row!! Awful, right? I should have just eaten the donut and been thankful for the crumbs that were so joyfully brought into my room by my proud and loving kids!). Live, learn, and lighten up!!!
“I hate it when we [go away for a week in the Caribbean/spend a weekend at a B &B being waited on/go out for an evening at a fab restaurant] and my kids stay with their [grandparents/aunt/uncle/friends] house and they let them [stay up late/drink juice/eat candy/watch questionable TV]” If ANYONE takes your kids when you are doing something way more fun than watching kids, they should be given a trophy and a BIG bottle of wine and only complain if their kids were unsupervised in traffic, watching porn and drinking whiskey.
I LOVE this! Passing it on!
Now that the kids are in school, I’m so bored because there’s nothing to do.
Christie – this made me smile!
Yes!! This one!!! My youngest started Kindergarten this year and over last summer people kept asking me “What are you going to do with yourself when they are all in school for the whole day?!?!” I wanted to smack them every time! And, for the record, there are only 19 days of school left and I haven’t been bored yet! 🙂
Here is one I wished I had never complained about: I have to wake my 2-year old every morning at 9:00 after 13 straight hours or who knows when he would wake up. Now enters baby #2 who still gets up every 3 hours at 8-months old and then the now almost 3-year old also gets up at 6:30.
Ugh, to me, the worst is: “I am soooo busy today! I have a lunch date with the girls and a mani-pedi, and THEN I have to pick the kids up from SCHOOL!”
Ummmm…that’s not busy. That’s a vacation.
Right. On. And I have to confess that in my early Mommy days, I was def guilty of complaining about this one.
“My daughter will only eat meat, fruits and vegetables-no carbs!” Having birthed cracker-tarians, I want to smack a parent who says that!
Crackertarians! I love it! I have one of those! Seriously, for all of JK, the only thing she would take for lunch was Goldfish crackers.
How about “There is not one matched sock in the house since my kids started doing the laundry”?
Ellen
I got nothin’ but those are pretty good. They all make me instantly jealous.
I’m a home daycare provider,so it bugs me when moms complain about things I never get – sick days, vacation days, days off in general! “Oh, my muscles are soooo sore, my trainer really put me through the wringer yesterday!” (Meanwhile I was watching her kid….)
Ha ha ha! Nothing that starts with, “When my kid was eating the organic, homemade duck sauce I made and said he loved it”.-The Dose Girls
My baby slept through the night.. It had me so worried.
My baby took to breast feeding so easily and it doesn’t hurt.. I don’t see what all the other moms complain about.
I love this blog.
I respectfully disagree…
Maybe don’t post these things Anna, however have a safe friend to say them to. A very close friend who won’t pass judgement on you for saying them. Parenting is a ruff job…
having a LIST is NORMAL…It is how often you ADD to the list that is the thing.
When our son died from ARPKD, we found ourselves wishing and longing for all the stuff parents would complain about… (No sleep, crying, fussiness,loss of freedom…)
We don’t have the “list.”
I have had to bite my tongue on more than one occasion!
Similar to #6, anything that starts with my mom helping us taking care of the kids, cooking and cleaning up, but doing something in a way that I wouldn’t do.
Maybe… “The only vacations we ever get to go on are to Disneyland and a week at my parents’ Beach House, because other people pay for them, I never get any “adventure”‘
Love the list!
@Christie, and only if they are playing in traffic while watching porn and drinking whisky 😛
Disclaimer: just kidding. Someone would have a fight on their hands if they let me daughter play in traffic,or watch porn. But seriously,you gotta put the kid to bed somehow. It’s what liquor stores were invented for!
Disclaimers disclaimer: again just kidding! I don’t even go for the benadryl or Nyquil thing. All those chemicals just for a few hours sleep? Not worth it to me.
I’ve been in pajamas all week.- I would have killed for pjs all week when I was working full time! Also, I complained when the dog followed the baby around and “cleaned up” every time baby spit up. Gross!!!
My sister: “My 2 kids finish a whole can of vegetables at every meal. It’s so hard to buy enough for them!”
FYI, my kids are THE WORST eaters ever. My then-1-year-old son once went almost a year without touching a single vegetable and lost weight because he stopped eating almost entirely.
Great list…. It bugs me when people update their statuses with every detail. like “OMG I”m so tired, baby woke up three times last night!!” Um hello, he’s 2 weeks old that’s what he’s supposed to do. I’ve been a single parent since day 1 so I just don’t have much sympathy for people. My darling 6 y.o. drives me bonkers regularly but I’m not going to complain to the world about it. She’s 6 so she’s doing what she’s suppose to do;-)
Probably shouldn’t add, “It bugs me when my husband wants to cook, he always uses such fancy ingredients.”
I had such a hard time finding some outfits to wear for my weekend away. And I shopped ALL DAY! I had to find somthing since I wore all the stuff I have last weekend when we went out of town.
Vicky
http://www.thepursuitofnormal.blogspot.com
“God, I can’t believe we have to go to Disney AGAIN. Every freakin’ year!”
Seriously? SERIOUSLY????
NEVER tell other women about your labor if it was under 4 hours…ever. I learned that the hard way.
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.