Thomas Edison’s famous description of genius stated that it was, “1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.” The older I get I really think Edison was describing moms, not geniuses. Or perhaps because we are moms, we are therefore, geniuses. Regardless, his description, I’m convinced describes my life most days. There are days when you feel like you’re one step ahead and days when you feel like you’re 2 steps behind. Anyone can feel this way in regards to anything going on in their lives: parenting, work, finances, laundry…

Over the years as my friends and I each started traveling down our own paths in life, we made it a point to still keep in touch with each other. As often as we can, we try to get together for girls weekends, birthday celebrations, even a simple one night dinner if we can manage to align schedules. We use this time to catch up with each other, talk about our families, and usually compare notes on everything we’re experiencing. Recently we’ve been on a kick about sharing stories about our kids. I can tell you that when I feel like I’m about to pull all of my hair out or feel like I’m failing as a parent, I quickly realize that I’m not alone when the anecdotes start flowing.

In addition to the chore chart at home, my girls have also started wanting to help with things without being asked, like making dinner. My 9 year old has amazed me with how willing she is to learn and how careful she is with different tasks in the kitchen. My 7 year old on the other hand, has her own ideas about how things should be done. For instance, the other night she had a complete and total meltdown in the middle of the kitchen because I “stirred the macaroni wrong.” Excuse me tiny Gordon Ramsey, I’ll wait right here until you’re ready to tell me in intimate detail how the macaroni is ruined due to an improper turn of the wrist. When I shared this story with my friends I was amazed at the similar situations they had encountered with their kids.

Just last night one of the girls told me that after tucking her 5 year old son into bed she was shortly summoned back to his bedroom and informed that he wasn’t covered properly, (his blanket was flipped on the wrong side). Another one of the girls told of how her 2 year old daughter wouldn’t let her mom read her a bedtime story because it was “too bumpy for her.” We’ve yet to figure out what that means. There was also the 3 year old who had a traumatic meltdown because she wasn’t allowed to have mayonnaise for dinner and finally the 7 year old going through a growth spurt who put on a dramatic display of tears when she was declined a pre-dinner snack….following the pack of crackers she had just eaten.

When it comes to feeling like no matter how hard you try you still aren’t making any progress, you have to take a step back and remember that you are not the only one in the world feeling this way. There is no guidebook to life. If you ask around, you’ll find a lot of people are in similar situations that you’re finding yourself. If you do the very best you can, learn from your mistakes and ask for help, then you’re always at least taking a step forward. I’m Claire, the Afena blog mom. Thanks for reading.