I’m so excited to have my hilarious friend Ashley share a snippet of her life with two kids as my first Guest Post! Any moms out there can totally relate to this kind of day, where it seems nothing is going right, and you either laugh or cry about it. 

Wacky Wednesday

Staying at home with young kids is a sitcom waiting to write itself for most moms (or dads) but this past Wednesday was the epitome of that. It started off like any ol’ regular day: me pretending my almost 3-year-old (who is clearly up) will go back to sleep as I lie in bed and muster up any/all energy to get up, drinking coffee as my 11-month-old screeches and throws every breakfast food off her tray on the floor for the dog…you know, the regular.

Toddlers are hard. Parenting is hard. God’s mercies are new every morning. Here’s my Thursday: the hard edition.

I desperately want to be the mom who doesn’t need to yell and can keep her composure in the throes of a toddler tantrum. I so want to be the mom who can manage her toddler in such a way that she doesn’t have meltdowns. I let anger and frustration be my driving forces today and look—this sad face was the result! We had a really really really rough and tough start to our day today. . Temper tantrums, tardiness, hurt feelings, reflux, and barf (one caused by reflux, the other caused by the epic tantrum) that resulted in me missing an appointment I really needed. I thought only of myself today and what I needed, and in doing so I failed to give my girls the gentle attention they needed. . I hate the messy days, when I fail to parent with grace and respond with mercy, and instead react out of anger, frustration, and then try to blame it all on no sleep (which was my fault, and no one else’s). . Today was just another hard reminder that my sweet girls need me to bring them to God, not try to “be a good mom” (as if I’m capable of that on my own abilities anyway—ha! If I were, days like today wouldn’t happen). . These children are such a precious gift from above and I want to raise them right. Some days I really wonder if I’m truly up for the task—thankfully I’m not meant to do it alone, and even more thankfully, I don’t have to. Today was another reminder that I need Jesus. He is enough, El Shaddai, the all sufficient nourisher of my soul. . His mercies are new every morning and I’m so thankful for a successful nap time. Tomorrow is another day. I am sorry for my shortcomings, and I pray they can forgive me. Lord, help me point them to You. . Everyone, please: learn from my mistakes. #dailyclaire #morenora #takingbackpostpartum #toddlerinchief #lifewithtwo #ig_motherhood #motherhoodunplugged #reallife #motherhoodthroughinstagram #momlife #momfail #terribletwos #threenager #jesustakethewheel

A post shared by cαιтℓιη ✿ wαℊηℯr (@caitielin34) on Oct 19, 2017 at 12:19pm PDT

Potty training: two words that make any parent cringe. I admit, I was dreading it too. However, when I least expected it, my toddler decided she was ready. If you knew her at all, this wouldn’t surprise you! It happened about a month after we had our second child (she was about 2 months shy of 2 1/2).

Also Known As, “The Day I Flooded the Laundry Room and Broke My Husband’s Toe”

I’ve always been easily distractible, but being the mom of a 27-month old and a 2-week old bumped me into a whole new level of distractible. I call it “momnesia.” I think I took for granted how good I’m feeling: getting decent sleep at night for having a newborn, not in pain or feeling too uncomfortable, and generally in good spirits (contrasting birth and postpartum stories to come). The newborn is so chill and besides some (understandable) jealousy, my toddler is the same amount of work as before.