Thanks WBGTE Lori and KCAB for the support. I don't feel so lonely up on my soapbox now! PAT sounds like a great way for parents to support each other and be honest with each other. Even without PAT, I have found that by just being honest with other parents about how my day is really going that I am able to coax some more honesty out of other mothers.
I did just want to take issue though with one comment you made.
Parenting is simultaneously the hardest and most rewarding thing we will ever do.
I hear this a lot and I think it gets said so much we often say it without thinking about it. While parenting is hard and can be rewarding, I always feel like this cliche is a bit dishonest as well. Do we actually have any data to prove this? Would raising my son really be harder and more rewarding than what Mother Theresa was doing in Calcutta? Or devoting one's life to curing a bad disease? Or negotiating a major peace deal? I don't know. But I guess it doesn't seem fair to those people who do not have children but make major sacrifices and contributions to this world, to people who wanted children but cannot have them, or to people for whom parenting is not rewarding.
Sorry about the soapbox again. I'll go lance my son's blood blister now. Pus. Gotta love this parenting thing!
