In the Parenting Trenches

I’ve always read and heard about “The Trenches”. Friends and family have told me about the time in life when you are just “in it” with your children being young, and life being wild. We have three children who fit that description spot on and we basically live in The Trenches right now. This is my reason for wanting to get involved with Manhattan Moms. 

A few years back, somehow while the world was dealing with a pandemic, we skated past The Trenches with our oldest being 2 and a brand new baby in a world focused on staying home. We spent days, if not weeks, at home. We had daily yard time where we went on super long walks and spent hours exploring outside. I don’t think I was away from my husband for more than two hours every few months for two years. For so many people, this was the hardest time in their lives. For me, it was very easy to just focus on my family. It was way better than fearing the unknown.   

At the end of the pandemic, we moved home to Manhattan. My kids started to explore all the non-pandemic childhood experiences. Somehow, we skated past the terrible twos and trying threes because our kids were just so excited to go to the grocery store. I remember a lady stopping me at the grocery store to tell me how sweet it was my children sat in the cart and just people watched. Her face fell when I told her that’s because this was one of the first times they remembered going to the grocery store! The pandemic gave us a bubble for my children to grow up with almost unlimited time, energy and focus on them. We were so lucky and thankful every day for my husband and a job he was able to do from home. We skipped over the early trenches because for us, time stood still.  

My children rebounded quickly from the pandemic and adjusted to the new-to-them normal. My oldest started preschool, my second child gained way more than a little sass. Then, we added our sweet baby girl and bam, here we are in the thick of it all — always on the go and always picking up the (fruit snack) pieces as we go. We are always late to something, our to-do list is usually adding more things per day than we can cross off per day. Our children are basically the same as feral alligators, in the most loving way of course.  

Our lack of hands, time, knowledge and energy has helped push up down deep into that dirty trench. We stand here daily, trying to claw our way out to the top. Sometimes we get a hand out or even a whole leg before something comes and reminds us it’s OK to be here, in the dirt. This is a short season of life, and we do not live here forever. We must know how to help ourselves and help each other. One mom to the next mom. But how? The answer is Manhattan Moms.  

Would I change any of it? Heck no! I love our little crazy life and it led me to realize we have a huge gap of knowledge of the resources here in Manhattan for moms, parents and families. These resources are meant to help us all get out of the trenches of motherhood.  We have so much in our little community and somehow, we need to get the word out about it all! This is going to be the place to find it all, in one collective area, and I’m so excited to be a part of it! 

If I didn’t land here, in this moment of life down here in the trenches, I would have never realized my dream to be a part of Manhattan Moms. I’m beyond thankful for this beautiful, loud and hectic life and I’m so excited to add Manhattan Moms to my life and yours!