Let me start over. Being a parent is the hardest, most exhausting, most rewarding, most wonderful job that I could ever ask for you. But you know what else it is? Boring. Like mind numbing, brain cell killing, almost hilariously boring.
Its getting asked the same question over and over and over and over again.
Its cleaning up the same mess over and over and over again.
Its the constant tension of watching to make sure no one kills themselves or ingests anything they shouldn't.
Its picking up the same toys over and over and over again.
Its having the same fight over and over and over again.
Its dishes, laundry, bathrooms, dishes, laundry, bathrooms, dishes, laundry bathrooms.
Its being asked by your child if you want to play and then having all the toys you were playing with stolen from you and essentially ignored until you get up to do something else (read dishes, laundry, bathrooms) and your child decides nows a good time to follow you around again.
Parenthood is submitting yourself to a childlike reality and exploration of all things new, dirty, gross, weird and most likely socially uncomfortable (read nose picking and poop). I find it all at once extremely difficult and insanely rewarding to watch the inner workings of a three year olds brain behind his beautiful blue puppy dog eyes.
Children need our submission to the boring. They thrive off our attentions during the monotony and I for one am a proud parent of the boring. I embrace it, I live it, I may not thrive off it right now but I know my children do and I fully embrace it for them. I once heard it said that when they are small, if we make the small things big, when they are big, the big things wont seem so big. I hope that through this monotony I can form a bond with my children that outlasts their childhood and brings us into teenage and adulthood when things have the potential to get seriously fun! Until then, I have some squished grapes I have to go pick off the floor.
