Why the grouchy mum?

I hate happy cheerful mommies who think that motherhood is the best, most wonderful, spiritual, and fulfilling experience they could have every wished for. They're either saints or they're lying. When I was expecting, I walked around for nine months in a black cloud, and held back my urge to whack anyone who said how beautiful the miracle of carrying a child was. Then when I delivered, I resisted the longing to slap my peers who talked about how 'spiritual' labour was. I found a polite smile, and that was my outside reaction, while fantasizing about the 'phatak' sound a slap would make. All the holding back of my violent tendencies was probably good practice, because parenthood opens you up to a world of know-it-alls, an overdose of family, well meaning strangers who feed your kids chocolates, and targeted marketing that makes you think no one wants to sell you anything other than kids products. 

There's no denying that parenthood is an experience that is all consuming and life changing, but we need more people to be honest about their experiences. That's me - the grouchy mum. 

This is my journey of parenthood - it's about challenging stereotypes, rediscovering family, re-prioritizing  time, and redefining myself. Now THIS is a paradigm shift.