Some Days it Feels Like Prison
Some days mothering *does* feel like prison. Especially on days where the rain is preventing you from getting outside, and the walls are closing in. The two year old is yelling “Mama! Pee-pee!” every 15 minutes and you must run as fast as you can to put her on the potty before there’s a mess to clean up. You’re washing load after load of laundry and start to see the pile of clothes you folded yesterday coming back through the dirty clothes hamper, realizing that your children thought it was too much effort to put their clothes away, or were confused by the utter chaos of their bedroom as to which clothes were actually clean and which were dirty. You go from room to room picking up, putting away as you walk in circles, finding new messes with each round. You just got the kitchen cleaned up from breakfast and the kids are complaining that they’re hungry and could you please make something to eat. You unload the dishwasher thinking to yourself, “didn’t I just do this?” and realize that yes, just two hours ago. You tell your kids to go clean their room and realize the hopelessness of this directive. They will probably put a toy away and then find something more interesting to do, such as look at a book, try on another outfit, roll on the bed. You understand that if anything will get clean, it is ALL UP TO YOU. And you wonder, when do I get to go home, sit on the couch and get away from it all?
Some days it feels like prison. Sometimes it feels like the work you do is on par with hammering out license plates and sewing up duffle bags. You’re breaking up fights, sometimes in the middle of them, and secretly plotting your escape.
And yet, you don’t feel like you can talk to anyone about it. Because you’ve heard so much against what you do, friends, associates, media claiming that parenting, especially stay-at-home parenting, is being shackled to a life of worthlessness and throwing away your potential. And you feel the need to show, persuade, be the role model for motherhood, and all it’s joys. No, it’s not like that at all, you say. It’s beautiful, it’s wonderful, it’s so rewarding! And some days it is. And some days it feels like prison.
There are no promotions, no vacation days, no sick days, no recognition for a job well done. There is no clocking in and clocking out. There is just constant hard work. And while I KNOW that the labor of motherhood is so worth it in the end, this is a lifelong labor, not a short term one, with the results up in the air until the end.
Mothering is a joy. There are so many little things that bring you blessings throughout the day, but the reality is that not every day is a joy. Some days your eyes are clouded with the cons and there seem to be no pros. And some days it feels like prison.



















