We're Just Tired

Sometimes at the end of the day the girls will look at Mommy and Daddy with some alarm and say, “Are you ok?” We nearly always respond, “We’re just tired.” They think we’re mad or sad or something else. The reality is that we’re just tired.
I blame the TV shows they watch. On the tween-friendly shows everyone is happy and smiling all the time. No one is every tired in a real, collapse on the couch to watch TV way. Even when they are sick they are perfectly dressed with full make-up. Oh, they might have a red nose to signal a cold, but the rest of them is picture perfect. No one ever puts on sweatpants and a big t-shirt because they just don’t feel like dressing any better on a day when they don’t have to leave the house. Females never put their hair in a pony tail just because they can't decide what to do with their hair. No one on TV is ever just tired. Being tired is a universal parenting reaction at the end of the day, isn’t it? By the time we get the girls to and from school, activities and play dates; take care of the house, laundry, meals; do that thing that pays the bills (aka work); spend some time together; and connect with the outside world, we’re tired. I tell them it’s because their parents are old. I know that’s not really true, though, because I hear the same things from parents much younger than us. It’s not really a complaint as much as I know it sounds like it is. It’s really just an acknowledgement that we live full, fun lives. Someday I know the girls will understand. I just hope Mommy and Daddy saying they are tired isn’t going to stick with them as our parenting mantra.