In another part of my blog I mentioned how comforting it is when you come across others who are experiencing similar struggles. Either personally. In their marriage. Or with raising kids. And by struggles, I mean even the small ones. Like fighting that same darn battle every evening; telling your son it’s time to take a shower and all you get is that horribly obnoxious whiny tone. As if I’m demanding that he go scrub toilets on his hands and knees, using only a toothbrush. {The same toilet that he tends to miss half the time}. No. I’m not that evil of a mother. I’m simply telling him it’s time to turn off the tablet/phone/TV and go bathe. It’s just a shower! An arguable chore to him but quite frankly, a small luxury for others. Me included. Oh yes. I did just call a shower a luxury. Because right now that’s exactly what it is.
So, when you come across other women who share some of these same battles, it’s a comfort to engage in conversation. Laugh. Vent. Share. Relate. I got two hours with one of those women this morning. We share our faith. We share our love for our families. We share feelings of wondering what we want to do in life. We share those parenting/marital struggles. And we share our love for a hot, uninterrupted shower. I’m not planning to air out all the details of my dirty laundry. But let’s be real. No one is perfect. This household is far from it, in fact. I know everyone is fighting their own battle. I also know it’s often hard to recognize that in this Facebook/Pinterest-y world of perfection. But I promise…no matter what kind of facade they’ve got going on, there’s at least one thing they’re struggling with. Likely two. Or three or four. And it’s grounding when you can spend time with another person; admit that life isn’t all popcorn and gummy bears [two of my favorite treats, by the way] and share real-life. And when you find the kind of friend who also wholeheartedly agrees how magnificent a hot shower really is, hold on to them. They’re the kind of friend worth having because they will gladly wait a few extra minutes so that you can even dry your hair!!
Now excuse me…I’m going to go invade my son’s privacy, talk really loud over the sound of the water and try to have an insignificant conversation with him while he’s taking a shower. 🙂
Weakness for Words 