Dear Dad….

The baby is crying again.

He just won’t sleep. We are tired and getting cranky ourselves. Dreaming of hitting the sheets and our comfy down pillow. Isn’t that funny? We are dreaming of dreaming. These tired eyes are getting darker circles by the minute, while the babies cries are getting louder. I have been rocking the baby for almost two hours, and each time I set him down his eyes burst open and the tears stream down his face. Back to square one.

And then you come up and ask, “Why is he crying? Why won’t he sleep?”

Please don’t! Asking this does not help, in fact it makes things worse. If I knew what was wrong, I would fix it. This comment can fill my insides with steam, as I am already frazzled and tired.

Dear Dad…

Please just keep this silly comment to yourself. Leave me to the cries, or you take the reigns. But please don’t ask me why the baby is crying. We are both so tired, but neither of us will be sleeping like this.

I take the baby back to our bed, I can feel your eyes rolling from across the room. I’m tired, he’s tired. We need sleep.

You ask, “will he be in our bed until college?”

Not helping dad.

I, too, dream of days of uninterrupted sleep without a baby’s foot in my ribs and a pillow to myself. In fact, it all seems like a distant memory that I barely remember. So please don’t tell me you are tired in the morning, I am tired too. I don’t think I’ve hit a full REM cycle since the baby was born.  So for now, I am off to bed, with baby in tow. So please don’t ask me when the baby will sleep on his own. In his crib. All night.

Right now I just choose sleep. Any tiny glimpse of it. I will do whatever allows me to lay my head on a pillow with my eyes closed tight.

Dear Dad…

We love you. But please don’t say those words.

Maybe I am just cranky and maybe I just need some sleep. But those are two comments that are enough to drive this mommy mad. We get enough backhanded comments from outsiders. Let’s keep these two comments out of the house. We will all be a lot happier. If you want to help, grab the baby and let me take a nap. Or make us another pot of coffee. Even better,  Mothers Day is coming up… I envision a nice spa day. We know you don’t mean it, you may not even know that it frustrates us. Like I said, I might just be tried and cranky.

With Love,

Mommy

Welcome to the final Time for Mom link up!  Yes, you read that correctly, this week will be the last week for Time for Mom.  The four of us co-hostesses discussed this recently and decided that while we had a good run, Time for Mom has run it’s course.  We will all continue to write about parenting and “kid stuff” on our blogs, so please follow along on each of our pages for many more posts to come!  Melissa will continue her parenting/preemie Tuesday posts, Brie will continue writing her fantastic parenting posts, Larisha will continue sharing her natural parenting tips and Rachel will keep writing about kids activities and toddler friendly recipes.

Thanks for the wonderful years of Time for Mom everyone!  If you wish to keep sharing your post with us weekly, please feel free to request to join our group Pinterest board, Time for Mom Superstars!

Don’t forget to link up today for our last hurrah!

Every week each of the co-hosts picks a blogger to feature from the week before! Check out our picks from last week’s link up!

-Hint of Green Pancakes

 -Vertical Distressed Pallet Wall

-9 Ways to Teach Feelings

 -Ready or Not, It’s Potty Training Time!

Photo Credit: Adapted from MorgueFile

Parenting isn’t Easy at All. 

It’s 9:30pm.

You’re washing your face and trying to keep your eyes open. The day is done, until the baby wakes for his 1am feeding, you can’t help but feel run down. Your hair is a mess, there are several unexplainable stains on your shirt. The bags under your eyes have replaced the ones that used to be in your closet. You can’t help but wonder where you have gone. The girl who was spontaneous, carefree and well put together.
You run a warm bath hoping to get a few moments to yourself. You head downstairs to pour a glass of wine and grab a book that you bought last year and still haven’t opened. Before you head back upstairs hubby asks if his jeans are clean for tomorrow. You shrug and head back down to the laundry, you knew you forgot something.

But don’t you always?

The clothes are sitting sopping wet in the washer. You give them a quick sniff and throw them in the dryer with a few extra dryer sheets. You take a deep breath and head back upstairs and fall onto the couch. You hit the cushions and feel your eyes starting to close. Suddenly you remember the bath water is running. You get to the bathroom just in time to see the water pour over onto the floor.

Perfect.

Another mess to clean. Your relaxing bath turned into yet another chore. You soak up the water and then sink into the tub. You take a sip of your wine, and slowly lower your head under the water.

“Mommy, mommy”

Did you just hear someone calling you? No, the children are asleep.

“Mommy, mommy”

There it is again, your oldest is awake. Great!

You pull yourself out of the water and open the door.

“Mommy” he says with a smile on his face. And then wraps his arms around you. “I love you”

You breath. The frown on your face turns into a smile. Your short lived bath, and tired eyes are no longer on your mind.

This is what makes you realize that none of that matters. True love, the perfect ending to your night. Those tiny arms around your waist.

“I love you too little man, I love you too”

Parenting isn’t easy, but it’s the little moments that make you realize it’s all worth it.