Stubborn Child of Mine

Having a three year old can be seriously eye opening; stressful, wonderful, terrible, all sorts of rollercoaster of emotions; probably because that's what reflects their own emotions. 

Athena is one of those three year olds who knows her own mind. She is stubborn to the point of defiant. She is independent to the point of, don't you dare even try and help her and yes she wants to wear that top back to front and inside out.

Theo (my now 7 year old) is so different in almost every way. He is so laid back and would let you feed him, dress him, heck he wants me to make every decision in life for him. There is indecisive and then there's Theo.  

Parenthood has often left me feeling like I've been thrown in at the deep end with a rubber ring and someone came along not long after and popped it. So you find yourself trying to cling to your support, but all the time knowing its going to contribute to your drowning, because what you really should be doing is learning how to swim!

Today has been a particularly trying day. Athena escaped our home through the door Theo left open and ran off down the road (in the middle of the road!), Athena, who may possibly be related to the flash, ended up over half way down the road before I had even started to run like the 32 year old, out of breath, overweight mum that I am. When I finally did catch up to her and dragged her home, she then ensued to have a temper tantrum for the next hour. Suffice to say the bottle of wine I had in the fridge from Mother's day has come in handy for sure.

This poem is one I wrote in the summer of 2021, but it shows you how not much has changed in nearly a year...

Stubborn Child of Mine

It was such a beautiful day,

No cause for alarm,

Unless you class the screaming child,

I'm currently trying to disarm,

I get it, the park is awesome,

With lots to do and see,

I thought it would be a nice adventure,

Except its not ruled by tyranny.

My assertive voice isn't assertive,

My shout only leads her to giggle,

Picking her up to show its time to go,

Causes her only to wriggle.

I offer her snacks,

I bribe her with juice,

I strap her into her pushchair,

And within seconds she's loose.

I'm fighting a losing battle,

Against this stubborn child of mine,

But if you were to ask me how I am,

I can't hear you over the slurping of wine.

Written by Natalie Carr