Friday, February 26, 2010

Bright spots in the big pile of suck

Feb 26, 2010 001


Thank you for all of your kind words on the last
two posts. The concerned emails and comments touched my heart. But what I most appreciate is the empathy. The commiseration.

That's really why I post what I do {beside it being therapeutic} they are not cries for help, they are cries to those who have been there before, or who are in it, who reach out and remind me that this too shall pass.

And I hope to do the same for someone else. I hope someone reads what I write, can identify, and then doesn't feel quite so alone. Because as mothers, fathers, we sometimes feel alone. Isolated. Because these kids are the biggest responsibility any of us has known; handling that with grace cannot happen when you go at it alone, in any way.

The other day a discussion about blogs came up with a friend. How when you look at a lot of mom blogs, you see sunshine and puppy dogs. Because when you edit out anything that could hurt anyone, or concern anyone, you're left with sunshine and puppy dogs.

Not here. I kept that in mind when writing the last two posts. I don't want this to be a place where I just blow rose petals up my rear end and make people think that I exhale poetry. I can write about the beautiful gifts in my life one day, but the next might include some mail I want to return to the sender.

But I can't. So instead, I write about it.

The same friend that held the conversation about blogs with me, sent me an email that said you have a huge pile of suck right now.

{Belinda, seriously, get yourself a freaking blog so I can link to you.... PLEASE!!}

We're all given that pile of suck now and then {go ahead and deny it, but it happens}. Some people hide it, some people whisper about it. I write about it. It, like alcoholism, doesn't do me any good to hide. It eats me up and spits me out like yesterdays leftover milk that's sitting on the counter in unwashed sippy cups.

I'm working on my pile of suck today. And today, while we had another huge tantrum while leaving a friends house {that lasted almost an hour...}, is a little better than yesterday.

And yesterday, looking back, wasn't all that bad. Yesterday I hit 30 days of sobriety {more on that another time, it deserves a post all it's own...} That's no small feat.

Also? Right now, at this very moment, both of my kids are smiling. Giggling while watching The Jungle Book on Lucas's laptop {and this weekend... I think the tv is coming out of the closet... shhh.... PBS needs to be my friend right now...}

I thank you for your comments, your emails, your concern {ahem... mom & mom in law...} and thank you for reading. From the bottom of my heart I thank you for being by my side as I journey through this big pile of suck to find a few bright spots :)

Bright spot #1

Feb 26, 2010 008

Bright spot #2
{Fynn's favorite thing to do - pull a chair up to the sink and make "cakes" with soap, water, splashes, an old toothbrush and lots and lots of bubbles...}

Feb 26, 2010 013

29 comments:

  1. I like people, and blogs, that are a good balance of good and not so good.

    Just like people who are negative all of the time, people who are positive-happy-roses all of the time turn me off.

    I like real!

    Nell
    ReplyDelete
  2. And just like yesterday's leftover milk, big piles of suck are stinky! Luckily, there's always a fresh jug in the fridge, or a friend who would love nothing more than to pick some up for you.
    ReplyDelete
  3. Is it weird that I think 'big pile of suck' sounds wonderful? Not like 'I sure wish I had a big pile of suck...' but just in the way it rolls off my tongue. Almost as good as cussing feels ;)

    I love it when people are all REAL. Maybe selfishly so...because I love knowing that I'm not the only one who feels like I'm up against an impossible task each day. Our tasks are different, but empathy is the same.

    Next time I need to cuss about an impossible task, 'big pile of suck' will be my first choice :)
    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh how I love that picture of Fynn! A little slice of everyday.

    Way to go, woman! 30 Days!!!
    ReplyDelete
  5. It's good to hear that you're not all rose petals and poetry, cuz that just isn't real. Besides, it makes me look bad with all my freakish misery. Hang in there. It's good to get the bad out so there's more room for the good. ;)
    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations. 30 days is a thing of excruciating beauty.
    ReplyDelete
  7. Your writing is so powerful. It depicts how many of us feel as the days pile one on top of another with no break, no end in sight. Know that there is a way and there is a pull that will keep you right where you are suppose to be.

    I am sorry I missed your yesterday. I was having my own and it is working through, hopefully.

    I love the saying "big pile of suck" and want to steal it and run off with it.

    And, certainly not least, congratulations!
    ReplyDelete
  8. It's bad, but I couldn't live without PBS kids. I used to be so against sitting him in front of the TV. BUT. He loves it.. Sesame Street is educational, and it will keep him quiet while I eat my breakfast, clean the kitchen and whatever else I need to do.

    Congratulations on your 30 days!
    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm sitting here with strep throat, feeling like crap, so while I would love to commment on about 6 things in this post, I really only have the energy for about 1. And I forced myself to sit up and type this one, because it is so worth it to me.

    I am so proud of you. 30 days is HUGE HUGE HUGE and I am so without a doubt proud of you. Congrats on an amazing task. I come here to not only feel like I'm not the only one going through things, but I look to you for inspiration, because lady, you are doing it. All of it. And that's the way I strive to be.

    So enjoy the wonderfullness of your 30 days. It's HUGE.
    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks. No. Really. Thank you.
    ReplyDelete
  11. Keep it real! You're a great writer, and much more brave than I. I haven't been brave enough to write out loud on my blog about my sobriety. I commend you!
    ReplyDelete
  12. Glad you've found some bright spots. And really glad you posted the past two posts. Sometimes the crappy parts of motherhood feel kind of lonely. We've had a pretty cruddy time of things lately, but thankfully things have taken an upswing. Hope they do for you too.
    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you for your honesty. I have been contemplating the same thing lately. I am coming out of a huge hole of bitterness (which I have been stuck in for longer than I want to admit.) and I have been hesitant to share it on my blog. Yeah, I agree with the sunshine and roses thing... I am a mom and I did not comment on the last two posts but ... yeah it can be a real downer some days but you are right THIS TO SHALL COME TO PASS-PRAISE THE LORD!!!! Praying for you as you walk out of the valley and into sobriety as well. Good on ya for 30 days! looking forward to that post!!
    ReplyDelete
  14. your sloppy dripping bathroom mirror gave me warm fuzzies and now I want to give you the biggest hug. :D

    i wish we lived closer.

    xo elizabeth
    ReplyDelete
  15. I appreciate your honesty and willingness to share the darker places. I don't trust perma-cheery, in people or blogs.

    And 30 days of sobriety is a major accomplishment. So proud of you.
    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh Corrine, I missed a few days and checked in this morning to such a roller coaster... it reminds me of my friend Patty (whose children are almost my age), who tells me again and again that she has no idea how she got through these years, that it wasn't pretty, but that she DID come through the other side, and that we all will too...

    Keep putting words to it, and keep drinking tea - 30 days is an accomplishment for anyone, but a miracle in the midst of tantrums and toddlers. You can do it - you ARE doing it.
    ReplyDelete
  17. Corrine, I've been out of town so I've missed your days of suck. I'm with ya and I know those days too. And yes, sometimes they just stack up in a row! But us Mommies with wee little ones, we know these days well. My are now 9 and 6 so I've crossed out of those 2,3,4 yr old, times of stretching. But the pull home do at times get tested. Thanks for being honest and showing us, WE ARE NOT ALONE. I get ya. I'm thankful for ya.

    Ps. Thanks for your prayers.
    ReplyDelete
  18. Corrine,
    We are back from our trip to the woods - no TV no computer access. I highly recommend this on occasion. It helps me to "Be still and Know" as the Bible says. Anyway, love your new place. Catching up with your posts from the week I'll say what everyone else did - We all have those days. It's the tie that binds mothers together. Those days that you feel like a failure. I have prayed many times - "God help me because I really don't know what to do."
    I tend to focus on the positive on my blog because it makes me happy to think on the good things, but I certainly don't believe in hiding the ugly either. It's all LIFE; the beauty and the "piles of suck".
    Misty
    ReplyDelete
  19. Hoo-boy, I know just how sucky that big pile of suck can be. Kudos to you for seeing the bright spots that exist within the suck. xoxo
    ReplyDelete
  20. Corinne, I love that, even in the midst of the big pile of suck, you are still obviously such a wonderful, devoted mom. And I am glad that you have two such radiant bright spots in your life. xoxo
    ReplyDelete
  21. I like to think that if it weren't for the suck, we wouldn't notice the bright spots as much! You're doing great, Corinne! ...like REALLY great!
    ReplyDelete
  22. Until someone is willing to be brave and say "This sucks right now", everyone will go on in their pretent Stepford world, feeling isolated and broken. And as many have said, when we acknowledge the Sucky parts, we can celebrate the good parts, the bright parts, with truth and authenticity.
    ReplyDelete
  23. Love your blog. "This too shall pass" is my motto when things get tough. Love the photos, too!
    ReplyDelete
  24. I have blog posts all set but I think it will be like throwing a party that no one will come to!! I want to be a guest poster on other people's blogs!
    Congrat's on 30 days!
    ReplyDelete
  25. I think that honesty is one's best quality and telling your story - ups and downs - is healthy!
    ReplyDelete
  26. Oh Corinne, I just adore you, big pile of suck and all. Keep on keeping it real. (And wow, 30 days! You rock!)
    ReplyDelete
  27. You keep it honest and real - with the good stuff and the hard stuff. I personally don't read the sunshine and puppy dog blogs much ... not that I'm all gloom and doom and Eeyore all the time, but I know they are full of you-know-what most of the time, or they are in some kind of denial. I love that you write with equal eloquence about the gifts in your life as your trials.

    And - OMG - CONGRATS on 30 days. That's HUGE. You are such an inspiration to me and so many others. You ROCK.
    ReplyDelete
  28. Oh - and I forgot to add - your Fynn looks so much like my Finn! He loves, loves, loves to play at the bathroom sink, and we have the same Crayola toothbrush ... :) Just had to add that.
    ReplyDelete
  29. Corinne, this is how I see life (your post, I mean). There are days were we have serious suckage and days where everything is puppy dogs and rainbows. It is talking about both that is important.

    Your little kids certainly are bright spots. Even when they drive you nuts. : )
    ReplyDelete

ShareThis