Honesty is Such a Lonely Word...

With Mother's Day right around the corner, I feel a bit blasphemous writing this post. Walk into any store and you will usually see Mother's Day banners printed in soft pastel colors of yellow, pink and blue with flowers all around. But is that really an accurate portrayal of Mother's Day or is that what we have been programmed to think?

I don't know how many of you watch the show "Modern Family" on ABC, but this week they portrayed what I consider to be a more realistic view of Mother's Day. Brief recap for those who didn't see it. One of the main characters, Claire, is a mother with 3 children-two teens and a preteen. She wanted to go on a hike for Mother's Day with her step-mother (who is about the same age as her) and all the kids. During the hike, the kids started wining, complaining, and fighting from the get-go. So Claire and her step-mother, Gloria, decided to continue and finish the hike. When they reach the top, Claire begins to talk about how she doesn't want Gloria to judge her, but sometimes she feels like punching her kids. Gloria is shocked and says she could never say anything bad about her son (who is 12). Then Claire says something that I think all mother's (who are honest) have thought at one time or another, "Anybody who has ever had a child, knows they can irritate the freakin' life out of you at some point, am I right? Then Gloria gets honest and mentions somethings that bother her about her son, Manny. Unfortunately, turns out Manny was listening and then Gloria feels bad and takes it all back, blaming Claire who she says "made her say it". Claire finishes with a great point and tells Manny that "sometimes parents criticize kids to make them stronger" and also tells him that sometimes parents just need to "blow off steam."

Do I love my children? With all my heart! Do some of their actions make me want to pull my hair out and move away? Almost daily. But that's what true parenting is. Moments of the good, the bad, and the ugly...the very, very, ugly. If we aren't honest that sometimes our kids drive us crazy, all that emotion will be pent up inside. Besides our kids already know they drive us looney, so it's really no shock to them. Believe me, my kids read this blog a lot, so I know.

So am I saying that all of the flowers and pastel colors should be removed from the Mother's Day cards and banners? No, I would just be very happy, if once in a while, I saw a storm cloud and a warrior's sword on a few...