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erin

erin

I'm Erin Jo. I'm thinking, writing, dreaming, mothering, loving, living, praising, BLESSED to be Fiona to my Shrek and Mommy to my four amazing kiddos.

dave

dave

Shrek is "like an onion with many layers" but has a heart of gold. He's my husband and my friend, and we just get better all the time.

lily

lily

Lily is my first baby and only girl. She's smart, funny, tall and kind. Keeping up with this girl is a challenge and a joy. She's terrific!

max

max

Max is one part ogre, two parts lover and all boy! Our little man has a temper but gives the best hugs of anyone I know!

colby

colby

Colby is as ornery as he looks. He flirts shamelessly, even with strangers. He's all mouth and curls and the loudest by far.

luke

luke

Luke is the baby of the family, but holds his own. He's happy and adorable. And he's a terrible sleeper. =)

Goodnight Blues



Sometimes you just can’t get a good picture….



Wow, am I feeling low tonight… I had hoped to title this post a little more positively – maybe after a glass of wine – but then that last thing happened, and it all went to hell. I am so tired of trying to do it all. I don’t know what the answer is anymore, how to keep this working motherhood ship from going over the edge and into the falls. There are so many dynamics. It’s not even the details anymore. It’s that the major components aren’t even in place to keep the whole gig from sliding down the drain.

I got home from work today to a house where everything was wrong. There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth from the kids tonight, and a daddy working late to boot. They are all four bathed and sleeping now, and I’m too despondent to even feel a sense of accomplishment.

Mama said there’d be days like these…. only she didn’t. Conventional wisdom tells you there will, but I really can’t recall my mom ever telling me this.

Women have been mothering for centuries. There have always been challenges. I think the set of challenges today’s mothers face can’t come even close to the worst of times for mothers through the ages. We’ve got so many modern conveniences that make the sheer work of motherhood so much easier than it used to be. But we’ve got too much technology, too much desire for perfection, too much of a role society expects us to fill.

Working motherhood is for the birds. There are good days at work, good days at home and a whole lot of terrible days, where nothing jives, no one is happy and momma’s candle is burnt all the way down on both ends.

I don’t know what the answers are for me, but I’m not going to give up on finding them. I’m holding on to the few smiles I can remember tonight, the few moments where I wasn’t feeling clobbered by the messy house, the mosquito I can’t seem to find but who won’t stop finding me, the kids that were acting out the way that I feel. And I’m hoping those kids, bad though they were, forget the yelling and grumpiness that was their mother.

I’m hoping I’ll be back next time in a much better place. In the meantime, if you know of an awesome sitter who wants to watch my kiddos while I do the work “thang,” give me a yell. ‘Cause on top of everything else, the perfect one I had lined up just fell through. (And, of course, I understand. Our plates are ours to fill, and we can only guess at our limits.)

So goodnight, moon. Goodnight, you. Goodnight, overwhelmed. Goodnight blues.

One Response

  1. Heather Kerr says:

    Hang in there, mama. I'm feeling the strain lately, too. There just aren't enough hours in the day! A clean house and folded laundry are overrated. =) Lean on that husband of yours if you need to, and try to remember that a happy mom leads to happy children. You have to take care of yourself, too! *hugs* When I'm having a bad day, I put on Hoarders on netflix while I tidy up (or go online and read your blog!). It gives me a sense of accomplishment to know that my house isn't THAT bad, haha!

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