Let’s be honest: As wonderful as our kids may be, parenting comes with a whole new set of problems.
They are problems so ridiculous – yet so frustrating – that you would never even begin to imagine them until the day your precious baby is born and WHAM! There they are. It’s kind of like entering a secret society, because as soon as you mention these problems to other parents, they’ll inevitably nod their heads and commiserate whole-heartedly.
Take these classic dilemmas, for instance…
When your toddler goes totally rigid as you’re trying to get her into the car seat, and it’s like trying to coax a 2×4 into a Jello mould.
When you open the nursery door in the morning to find that the kid who only recently mastered picking up Cheerios has somehow managed to get out of his zip-up, snap-up sleeper, remove his diaper and smear the contents of said diaper all over the crib and walls.
When your 2-year-old learns the word “No” and then yells it in response to absolutely everything, even the things she really likes and wants, just because she’s so thrilled with the way it sounds.
When your preschooler demands two stories, three trips to the potty, four sips of water, two new pairs of pyjamas, one drawn-out search for a lost stuffie, three songs, one nightlight and countless hugs and kisses before you can finally close his door at the end of the night. And then he yells for you seventeen times after that.
These are just a few examples of your average parent problems. They’re things that can make you absolutely crazy, but they’re also things that just about every parent out there has dealt with at one time or another.
Mom-of-two and social media maven Ilana Wiles runs an Instagram account, @averageparentproblems, that documents these daily struggles, sharing her own funny photos as well as those submitted by other parents.
Take a look at some of the hilarious posts – I guarantee you’ll be able to relate…
YOU MONSTER. #averageparentproblems photo: @sure_amber
Ilana, who also runs the popular parenting blog Mommy Shorts , says that in this age of Pinterest-perfect parenting it’s refreshing to just keep it real sometimes.
“Instagram has gotten very curated and a lot of popular moms to follow look like they are leading perfect lives, which can feel very intimidating,” she tells Us Weekly. “But it’s important to understand that what you are looking at is not real life. It’s art-directed. The mess is cropped out, or the tantrum that took place immediately before or after the picture, is omitted. My view is that parenting is really fun when we are able to laugh at the ridiculousness together.”
I couldn’t agree more!
Be sure to look for Ilana Wiles’ new book, The Mommy Shorts Guide to Remarkably Average Parenting, which is being released on September 27.
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