. . . Ani, standing in her crib in snuggly pajamas. At 2 a.m., screaming bloody murder for no reason.
. . . my breakfast. Of gummy vitamins. That I ate in the car when I noticed the bottle roll out from under the passenger seat.
. . . the car we bought over the weekend. And the dead battery I discovered only after I’d packed everyone up and was ready to head out.
. . . me at the park on a sunny morning with my two darling children. Where I smashed my head on a low-hanging metal rung so hard that it still hurt 12 hours later.
. . . a selfie. With all my makeup cried off by 10 a.m. because it was such a wretched, frustrating morning.
. . . registering the car at the DMV (it tells you what a truly abominable day this was when the 15 minutes I spent in there by myself were the highlight of my day).
. . . going out for lunch as a family. And then giving up after twenty minutes of Ani trantruming and asking for our order to go, and Ani bawling and thrashing in the carseat while Ell and I waited for the kitchen to box it up.
. . . Ella zonked out in the carseat on the way home from lunch with her arms above her head, looking mega cute. Completely oblivious to Ani screaming her lungs out right beside her the entire trip while Bart and I tried hard not to lose our minds.
. . . working during quiet time. In the basement of a friend’s house, sitting on the floor, because most of the time being a work-at-home-mom is not very glamorous (no beautifully-styled Pinterest worthy desks today, folks).
. . . going to the park as a family before dinner. Where Ani stepped in dog poo with her bare feet.
. . . all the children peacefully sleeping in their beds. While Bart and I did laundry from five suitcases.
. . . an artsy photo of my crossed fingers. That today will be 100% better than yesterday.
(All the photos at the top are from my Instagram feed over the last few weeks, which is clearly only a tiny, totally edited slice of life)
30 Comments
Thanks for this post. Janssen. Sometimes I need to know other moms have those kinds of days, too! Hope today is lots easier.
Real. Refreshing. So agree with the above comment.
Ha! You're awesome. This is my new favorite post!
And I winced in sympathy at the head-and-playground bar incising. Ouch! 🙁
Real life. Thanks for this. I have bonked my head on a playground bar before too. It really hurt. I hope everyone is happier today. Some days we just have to survive, right?
Yep, I have this day all the time. I hope the next is better for you!
This. Is awesome. (In a very not awesome sort if way.)
Oh, *hug*
i love this! (not that you had a bad day, just the concept of this post).
That's the problem with instagram, you see all the pretty pictures and think "wow Janssen's life is so perfect: adorable family, cute children, nice clothes, good food … Why is my life not like this?"
Thanks, for showing us that sometimes your life isn't perfect either 🙂 I'm sure though that tomorrow will be great again!!!
This makes me feel bad because I can't even remember what I did yesterday, so I think I may have missed 1-2 things I could have Instagrammed max.
-Jackie
http://ournashvilleife.com
Thank you so much for keeping it real. Hope today is much better!
Wow, kudos to the DMV for being the highlight of your day. That probably doesn't happen for them very often. (And I hope today goes better for you.)
Wonderfully honest. It's nice to be reminded that not everything is filtered beautiful.
Love your honesty! Fingers crossed today is better!!
As much as I like your instagrammed life, it's kind of reassuring to know it isn't all like that..
So sorry you had a tough day! But I am kind of happy to hear other moms have the same struggles (sleep problems after a trip, tantrums, and dog poop at the park…that happened to me two weeks ago –Joseph picked it up —the thought of it still grosses me out so much!). Anyway love your blog and hope today is better!
Man! So sorry you had a hard day… but I appreciate the reminder that I'm alone. It's SO good to remember that instagram etc is a very well-edited slice of life. Today will be better!
Yikes! That sounds like a tough time. It will get better! Right? lol Please tell me it gets better!
Peanut hasn't been sleeping well the past few nights, which means I haven't been sleeping well. I'm not sure if Starbucks EVERY morning is good for me or my wallet, but I'd rather not drive and sleep. =
Runt
runtspickins@yahoo.com
http://www.runtspickins.wordpress.com
(If responding, please email or comment a blog post of mine.)
Oh man. So sorry your day was so tough! S's screaming reminds me of the way Surrey typically is on vacation (is there anything worse? Makes me terrified to travel!)- – but in combination with everything else you mentioned, I don't know how you didn't explode! I'll keep my fingers crossed that today is lots, lots better for you. And that S takes a 6 hour nap.
Real life. It catches up to all of us someday. Sigh.
Hope this weekend is a lot less, well, tantrum-y and whack-your-head-y.
xox
I love this! It always feels nice to acknowledge the realness of life amidst all the pretty 🙂 But I really hope your day is better today!
You and Scarlet, "Tomorrow is another day!"
I love this! So much better (and more real) than the pretty pictures on Instagram! 🙂
This sounds like one of those days that makes you incredibly grateful that there is a tomorrow! Hopefully today goes more smoothly!
Sometimes it is very encouraging to hear that other people's lives aren't perfect. I hope you have a better day!
This is one of my favorite things you've ever posted.
Hitting that metal rung DOES hurt! So sorry your day was trying, but love your honesty!
Love this post! Although it makes for a miserable time in the midst of it all, you can laugh about it before you go to sleep. And know you are not alone in these terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days.
I love that you are real here. In fact, this is one of my favorite posts and think it should make a regular occurrence both for those no-good, very bad days and the very good, perfect ones.
Refreshing! I had a really rough week. Thursday night I called my mom (lives 30 minutes away), and declared that my daughter and I needed a break- from each other. Or at least to have a mediator in the room with us. She's 8 months. But dang, sometimes the poop keeps hitting the fan… over and over again. I know that bloggers all have real lives, but it helps to hear about it!
If you've never read Roo's post "Instagram is not real life" on Neon Fresh, you should go check it out. Hope you catch a break soon!