Last week, I wanted to quit. I have never felt quite so unqualified for a position. Drowning in failure and frustration. Last week was a tough week in my motherhood journey.

Reeling in the aftermath of public tantrums – one live on radio – and seemingly committing one big epic parenting FAIL after another, my morale was low. Parenting – what a rollercoaster!

Today, I’m sitting on a beach not far from our house; the water is calm, my feet sink in the cool, soft sand, and my boys are building a sandcastle beside me, singing to each other and decorating it with sea shells and sticks.

This is the calm after the storm… ‘I can do this.’

Restored

Yesterday, Tyson came to me with a pretty yellow flower he had picked from the garden; ‘For you, mama.’ And tucking Jack into bed last night, he gave me a wet kiss and whispered: ‘Love you.’

All the tantrums and parenting fails of last week are forgotten, and I’m back on top of my game.
In the midst of it all last week, I watched a clever video of a series of job interviews. The job description was intriguing…

Requirements: Must have excellent negotiation and interpersonal skills
The ideal applicant will have a degree in Medicine, Finance & the Culinary Arts

Hours: 135 hours – unlimited hours a week (basically 24 hours a day, seven days a week).
There are no breaks available.
Sometimes, you’ll be required to stay up with an associate throughout the night.
No vacation; in fact, on holidays, the workload is going to go up.

Pay: The position pays absolutely nothing.

Finally, the interviewer reveals: this is a job done by billions of people every day… mothers.

No wonder I feel underqualified, exhausted and frustrated sometimes; as the video states, this is the world’s toughest job.

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Originally published at Mum Daily. Photo by Pixabay.