Poop or Chocolate?

Getreadywithmemamma: Dear Santa, I would like a mug of hot chocolate that says this on the side. You know, a few years ago I watched a spoof on what different kind of Moms are out there. There was the type A planner President of the PTO, the crunchy I’m never going to wean my hippy child Mamma, the into myself yoga doing, pedi getting, cell phone obsessed out of it Mamma, and my favorite: the hot mess Mamma who shows up late with her hair disheveled and clothes mismatched. The hot mess Mamma can’t tell if today is soccer practice day, or cookie baking day for the PTO. The hot mess Mamma quickly is reminded by the type A Mamma, that there is some brown substance on her shirt that is either poop, or chocolate. The hot mess Mamma quickly swipes some of the brown mess off and tastes it... “Good, she says it’s chocolate usually it’s poop”. Without flinching, she continues her day. Now, whenever we have a stressful moment in parenthood, Brad and I look at each other and say, “Poop, or chocolate”? See, parenthood is not for the faint of heart. Neither is it for the perfectionistic, Pinterest obsessed nation that we have become. It is for the real soldiers. The ones who wake up every morning, full well knowing that they will either face a million moments of poop, or chocolate and yet, they gladly walk into the mess any way. I had to learn that no amount of education, nor training could save me from a toddler tantrum, or sensory needs surrounding food. I had to learn that the world would set ridiculous standards for our children and ask them to be ALL that they can be at like two. That the only healthy boundary that really exists between them and the madness that can be modern life and it’s standards would be us. However, I also had to learn that so much of the little things that we worried about in the beginning, did not matter. That my kids would be resilient and flexible and could bounce back from parenting mistakes and blunders, as we learned our way. That in the end of the day, you might have to taste a little bit of life’s poop to know when you get chocolate instead. Too far? Any parent of a toddler will sigh and say, it’s never too far to decide if today's situation is poop, or chocolate 🍫. 😊💕