the hard facts

Some days are shit, you know. Not mine today. I've had a rather even-keeled, well balanced, in fact - empowering (!) - day. But others around me... well, they have not.

So, I'd like to share a few short sharp facts about parenting. Just in case they resonate with you. In case they lead you to believe that you're not alone, someone else does understand, you are walking in the footsteps of the elders (o yes, indeed it's true).

1. Some days are shit.
2. Some days are not shit. But even on those days, you'll still have to clean it up.
3. Every little snippet of self time that you have the energy for, counts. (Hiding in the bathroom; sipping a tea; adding rose buds to said tea for your heart chakra; sewing even 5 stitches of something; banging on in a blog; baking; ripping up carpet, one square metre at a time; salute to the sun; a quick sms; learning to chant in sanskrit: it all counts in the search for little hints of self)
4. My short sharp facts will never be short or sharp.
5. Your child can't possibly hate you when they are only 6. They are, clearly, only 6. And deluded. And probably very stressed about something.
6. Firm boundaries are good. Even kind.
   
7. Your children are not an extension of you. They come from a place of their own, for a reason of their own.
8. You are not alone in your striving or your suffering.
9. If you are a tree with hundreds of little sparkling lights and some have blown a fuse and been extinguished, more are waiting to be lit.
10. You are loved, so light your fire.