7 Thankless Parenting Tasks

Sometimes it's a thankless job, being a parent. Like you do shit that you never thought you would do and there is rarely a "thank you". I know that my kids appreciate the stuff I do...deep down, they do. At least, I hope so. And like I mentioned in a recent post, it's ALL worth it. 

But sometimes a THANK YOU WOULD BE NICE.

I have compiled a little list (people love lists) of some of the thankless "jobs" I do as a parent. I say "jobs' in quotes because I don't think of parenthood as a job. It's not.

But it sure does feel like it sometimes.

Here are some of those "jobs" that go unthanked (I know that this is not a word, but I am using it anyway because I like to live on the edge):

1.  Doing a load of laundry in the middle of the night because my kid just told me at 9 pm that it's school spirit day or wear the color periwinkle day or some crap like that TOMORROW. Sure, let me dig through our heaps of laundry to find that one exact shirt you have to wear in less than 12 hours. I'll get right on it. You're welcome.

2.  Determining if underwear on the floor are clean or dirty. Enough said. By the way, just always always always assume that they are dirty. It's easier that way.

3.  Wiping the 5 year old's butt. When do they stop asking for help with this task?!

4.  Cooking the same meal in 46 different variations. One gets pasta with sauce, one NO SAUCE AT ALL ... NOT EVEN A SPECK, one just the meatballs cut up in teeny tiny pieces. Actually don't cut it up because NOW I WON'T EAT IT IF IT'S CUT UP. One likes the garlic bread but only the kind with the cheese on it. (Can you blame her?) And one wants just bread and butter, but wants to spread the butter herself and make the new tub of smooth butter look like it was attacked by a pack of rabid raccoons. One MUST have a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese on the pasta for it to even be considered edible. You get the idea.

5.  In fact, cooking ANY meal is a thankless task because they usually make cute comments like, "What is that disgusting smell?" Or "EWWWWW, I'm not eating that!" before the meal is even on the table.

6.  Giving up the last bite of a favorite snack/dessert to share it with a child. Because apparently you didn't hide in the kitchen and shovel in your mouth fast enough and you got caught red handed...

7.  Sleeping on the bottom bunk or in a toddler bed because they are "scared". You know what really IS scary? The fact that I can't fully straighten my legs for a solid 12 minutes in the morning after spending in the night in a bed made for a person who is 38 inches tall.

I'm sure my list could go on and on and on and on...

But I'll stop here before I start ranting about my stretch marks or giving up wine for 9 months on 3 separate occasions...totaling about 27 months with limited coffee and no wine at all.

Anything you want to add to the list? Please leave a comment and share!