Oprah

I think I have a love/hate relationship with her show. I used to watch her quite frequently, but it's actually been a few years since I was any kind of "faithful" viewer.

I had the idea a week or two ago to start recording the shows to watch at night occasionally. I'm kind of wondering if it was such a great idea.

Let me give you a fair warning: if you haven't watched this week, I'm about to spoil your fun. A few nights ago, I decided to watch the episode about motherhood. I mean, I figured this could be really great, you know? Oprah said they were talking about how mothers REALLY feel, etc. I was so excited. Fast forward about 3 minutes into the program and I was completely let down. If you've read my blog long at all, you know I keep things pretty real around here. I have never claimed to have it all together, and I certainly have never pretended like motherhood is perfect every day. BUT - I was really disappointed that there were so many women "confessing" that being a mother just really sucks. I couldn't believe it!!!

I began to wonder how I would feel if Logan was sitting next to me on the couch. Or how the children of these women would feel if they heard what their mothers were saying. I'm not talking about things like admitting that you don't bathe your kid every day. That's just real life sometimes. I'm also not talking about the feeling of being alone and overwhelmed that we get occasionally - that's totally normal! I'm talking about complaining about your kids and how they're just a big pain in the butt. I'm talking about the mothers who said that they need to practically be drunk to handle their kids. And they were laughing the whole time! And so was the audience!

I did learn something from Oprah that night (and the rest of this week, for that matter). First of all, I learned that I won't be watching her show unless she's interviewing someone super interesting. I didn't make my decision off this one episode. The rest of the week was quite disturbing, too, in my opinion. Second, I learned that I am so thankful for the fact that I thoroughly enjoy my children. No, they are not perfect all of the time. Not by a long shot. But would I ever wish they were "out of my hair"? Never! I also learned that I am so thankful that I have a great group of "mom friends" who feel the same way. I hope that the moms who spoke on Oprah can find some friends like mine. Maybe if they step back and see their children as blessings instead of burdens, they won't feel so frustrated!

So thank you Oprah. Thank you for helping me realize that when you surround yourself with positive people, you'll be much less likely to complain so much. Thank you for helping me realize that I truly have better things to do with my time (well, at least most of the time).