A Dad Shares Hilarious Analogy About Parenting Kids on Weekends
Before kids, weekends were always exciting. Especially if you worked a 9-5, Monday to Friday job.
And then when kids arrive, there are no weekends. Saturday and Sunday morph into an ordinary day. There are no ‘days off’. It probably changes a little when they grow up, but by then, you become the taxi, ferrying them from one function to the next, while adding in some errands and fun activities.
If both parents work, weekends become important family days, and they are often filled to the brim, when really, they should involve down time for everyone to relax with each other.
One exhausted dad, Simon Hooper, shared an analogy that many parents could relate to.
“This weekend was like trying to fit the weekly shop into a single carrier bag that had the structural integrity of a biscuit that had been dunked one too many times,” he wrote on Instagram. “Cram too much in and it breaks, spilling it’s guts all over the pavement to onlookers to stare and mutter ‘glad that wasn’t me’ while you silent sob into a snotty rag you found in your pocket that that kids took a particularly large blown into earlier.”
The father of four from London goes on to explain what exactly they got up to last weekend.
“Well we got to that point today – Sport clubs, sleepovers, the zoo, walks in the park / never ending goes on the swings, trips to 5 different shops to find slime ingredients, slime making, loft sorting, cleaning, planning parties, cooking – the list goes on – usually I’m the most positive person in the room but when you add in 2 very over tired older girls & twins who are everywhere at all times, you end up with broken parents. I’ve now developed an eye twitch so bad that women think I’m coming on to them through winking.”
Gone are the sleep ins on Saturdays and the casual walks to the coffee shop for a mid-morning brunch.
While none of us would change the life we have with our kids, it’s ok to admit that parenting is exhausting and sometimes we put pressure on ourselves to do too much. Especially on weekends.
“Parenting is hard work, but we are own worst enemies some times when we try to do too much. We should give ourselves a break sometimes and remind ourselves we’re doing the best we can. Anyone else feel our pain? I’m so tired I could ……zzzzzzzz.”
The photo and post were liked by 14,600 followers.
One mum admitted she too had an eye twitch. “Indeed have that eye twitch too at the moment it is so annoying just been trying to do too much.”
While another commented, “we are always knackered.”
So what to learn from this dad’s hilarious analogy? It could be to stop overscheduling or saying no to more things, to allow for white space in the schedule for downtime. Easier said than done. Yet everyone needs a rest, including parents.
The by-product of rest is less exhaustion, which means everyone will start the week less shattered.
Providing everyone sleeps through the night.
