What No One Tells You About Parenting

I don’t know what I thought it would be when we decided to take TD to a psychiatrist. At first, I was just relieved that we would have someone to talk to about the tantrums and massive highs and lows.  Then, I became totally freaked out that they would say it was all about our horrific parenting (those free rangers man, you just can’t let them breed!) and suddenly we would be watched constantly because why on earth else would these terrible tantrums be happening?!  Deep breaths. Breathe, Vicky.  Just breathe.

Instead I found a tall thin, kind-faced man who spoke in a happy voice that reminded me a lot of TD’s own pediatrician.  It eased my fears and enabled me to take those deep breaths and feel that while last week we might have been at the bottom of a mountain looking up, today we have reached base camp 1 and we will leave it fully prepared to climb more of this behavioral mountain.

Everyone says that parenting is hard. That is it exhausting.  That is takes up all your time.  When they do you think of the diapers, sleepless nights and teenage curfews.  You don’t think about the possibility that your child might have a neurological issue that can be tweaked with diet or might in fact be hereditary.  You don’t think that you will lie awake at night pondering each days events wondering just why she won’t stop screaming.

You don’t think that you will realize that three out of the five people in your household are now in counseling and it will make you laugh out loud at the sheer craziness of it all.  No, no one tells you about that exhausting side of parenting.