Confused Mother: Flummox

In a world full of mothers and motherhood blogs, books and therapists - I'm still flummoxed by everything that happens to me as a parent on a daily basis. That's right, today's word is flummox, which means: to confuse.

I'm confused about everything.

How my daughter knows how to use the restroom one minute, then pees on the floor the next.

Why my one-year-old feels the need to take his child-sized chair and flip it over to use it like a car.

Why my oldest son continues to try to skip homework. Even when I check EVERY DAY to confirm it's done, and he ends up doing it anyways.

Why I still have no ability to take a shower in peace.

Why I try to have a pop, when I know someone is going to steal it halfway through.

I'm flummoxed about everything. You'd think, after 11 years that I would have gotten used to all those things by now. Yet here I sit, writing to you fine people.

Let's Take a look at this photo for instance. Say hello the amazing and blended Tackett family. (Six of eight pictured) If you take a closer look you will notice our 11 year old Samuel to the right. The child is holding up a stuffed snail he won in a claw machine and yelling to the sky. Taking our adorable Florida vacation family photo to new heights. His reasoning for his epic photo-op is because he wanted to look like he had actually caught the shark that you see hanging in the background.

Multitudes of families have these types of family photos. I can assume that not one mother is aware of what her child was thinking at the time the shot was taken. Flummoxing at it's finest.

If we're being transparent here; I'm pretty sure my kids do it on purpose at this point. Knowing it will confuse me and I will spend more time than needed trying to figure out why. Do you have the same feeling? If I'm alone in this, that's alright, I'm used to having thoughts that others don't bring to light. Makes for good conversation at parties though.. and a few uncomfortable stares. I'm cool with it.