Exactly one week ago, I came home from my 2 year old's weekly playgroup feeling like the I must be the most insane person on the face of the earth. Anyone who owns a 2 year old is very familiar with daily power struggles, temper tantrums, and other forms of public humiliation. I have an especially strong willed two year old. I have gotten to the point where I almost don't want to go out in public because I know that at some point he will throw some kind of fit, and I will go insane and look like an idiot.
Anyway, last week at playgroup was no exception. Mason was doing his typical "I'm not going to listen to my mommy" routine the entire day. I felt like I was constantly telling him to stop, and yelling at him, and attempting to pick him up (with the two month old in my other hand) and move him away from whatever bad thing he was doing. When I got home, I was exhausted! And then it dawned on me. I am the only mom in my playgroup who gets this frazzled. I am the only one who raises my voice. I am the only one who looks like she is seconds from jumping off the ledge (or putting my head through a wall). I thought that I must be a really bad mom, or I must be doing something really wrong discipline-wise to make me the only monster mommy in the playgroup. Then I thought, maybe it is my kid's fault. Maybe I just have a really bad kid, and everyone else's kids are really good.
I found out tonight, at our "Mom's night out" that none of my theories are correct. I am not a bad mom, or a bad disciplinarian, my kid might be a little bad-but not too abnormal for a two year old. No-none of these things are the problem. The problem is, I am not on anti-depressants. Over half of the moms in my child's playgroup are on anti-depressants. The conversation started with two moms discussing their medications with each other, and suddenly the whole room was chiming in about which meds they liked and didn't like. The whole thing made me wonder...at what point does stressed out turn in to needing medication? How does one know they are to the point where they need to take medication just to help them get through the day? Gee, do I need medication - or am I just getting that old high school "everyone's doing it" kind of feeling?
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