I write to you from the toilet. Not going poop or anything – don’t’ worry. But I’m definitely sitting on top of the toilet seat cover, phone in hand – and two loud AF kids pounding on my door. A four year old whining because he wanted to drink the water from the iron steamer – and a sniffly two year old crying because she wants me to hold her, for the 14th hour in a row.
In desperate search of a moment of peace – reprieve – I’ve locked myself in the toilet. The stress is getting to me.
If you’ve read this far, chances are you’ve been here, too.
Now, I’ve learned a thing or two from these toilet stints. After countless hours of scrolling through my Facebook feed of moderately funny, “not really laughing out loud but still LOL” memes, reading old WhatsApp messages from the muted family thread filled with flowers captioned by “Saba7 el Fol Wel Yasmine” – I learned three things about how to live through this moment – and parenting, really.
They will only whine/cry/scream for so long
I mean, they only have so much lung capacity. So many tears to shed. There is an end to the madness – and it is in the very near future. Maybe 5 minutes. 10. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
There is only so long I will be tense, as well
Soon after the tears die down; after the whining subsides (and maybe the four year old has, indeed, enjoyed the fine waters of the iron steamer..) – the calm after the storm will come. Quiet will ensue. And my stress level? From OMG to om in 15 minutes. 20, even 30 – calm vibes will come.
But just as these frustrations will end – there, too, is a finite amount of time that they will need me for all these things
My four year old? He’ll soon pour himself a cup of (filtered, clean) water. He will make his own sandwich for his lunchbox (because that’s how we raise our boys in this household – again, another time, another article..). My two year old? She will grow up. She won’t want me to hug her – instead, I’ll be the one asking for one more hug, one more kiss.
Sounds depressing, right? It’s absolutely not. It’s life – and it’s rough, and crazy, and beautiful, and fun. It’s what we choose to make out of it. So when we get into those frustrating moments – whether its with kids, at work, at school – let’s take a deep breath, find the nearest toilet seat to sit on in peace, and remember that this, too, shall pass.
Sara Moussa
sarah Moussa is an american Egyptian stuck
on the Ring Road between Sheikh Zayed and
Maadi,where she works as a head of PR for
Memac Ogilvy.she is a mom of two crazy
adorable kids,wife to one wise man.you
can follower her musing on @samoussa87
for all social media channels.
