The Poopsie Collective

Happy Mother’s Day, From the Poopsie Team

One of the more awesome Mother’s Day cards any of us have received to date…

In honor of Mother’s Day, and all that us moms do on a daily basis, we want to give a quick shout out to the husbands and fathers who have made us feel special when we need it most. Sometimes it’s not the grand gifts (though we like those too) or the big gestures that make us smile, it’s the small moments that make our days of poop-filled fun worth it. So to get you geared up for a fabulous Mother’s Day, here are some of our favorite—and most appreciated—moments that have made us proud to be moms and able to tackle whatever chaotic kid adventures come our way.

Erica

It’s not so much of a singular moment as it is a daily occurrence, but it is widely known that I cannot function without coffee. Like, my mind is on the verge of exploding until that dreamy drop of caffeine hits my lips. I have a hard time doing anything before I’ve had coffee, let alone take care of another human being who’s tugging on my leg begging for food and attention. And because my wonderful husband understands—and sympathizes with—this, he brings me coffee every morning. Not just on Mother’s Day, but every single day. True, he only has to venture as far as the free coffee room in our condo lobby (best perk ever!), but every day I know he’s going to come back from his morning puppy stroll with a pipping hot cup of joe. And that coffee usually comes with a kiss too…though sometimes it’s served with a “I can’t believe you’re still in bed” eye-roll on the days Owen decides to sleep late. Anyway, it’s his daily gift to me. A small gesture with big returns, so that I can start my crazy day as a mom on the right (and caffeinated) foot. Bring on the poop!

Stephanie

“Supposed to” isn’t part of my husband’s vocabulary. So when it comes to Hallmark holidays like Mother’s Day and Valentine’s, he isn’t eager to fulfill wishlists. It’s the days between that mean more to him. In the early months after my daughter’s birth, while I was in the depths of laundry misery, mentally cursing everyone in my household and wondering why the F I’d had a baby, he came in and said the best thing I’d ever heard: he’d hired a cleaning lady. I was so happy, relieved and surprised, I immediately started crying (probably a hormone/sleep deprivation combination). It was the best gift I’d ever gotten and was perfectly timed. I didn’t ask for it, and it wasn’t for any occasion. He just saw that I was struggling and did what he could to alleviate it. Nice one, Alan. 

Gwen

When Izzy was just a couple days old, I vividly remember walking down the stairs of our flat thinking/freaking out to myself over how my life had changed forever and when was anyone ever going to consider me and my feelings ever again?! I had this unbelievable sense of responsibility hanging over me and couldn’t see a light at the end of my sleepless tunnel, when I would once again be deemed important to anyone for anything except my boobs. AND, with this roller coaster of emotions whirling around in my head, I reached our kitchen. At which point Adam looked at me, held his arms out and gave me a big hug. Obviously I burst into tears. It was exactly what I needed in that moment.  Not only did he make me feel loved and like he knew how I was feeling, but most of all that I was still his wife, as important to him as ever and not alone.

Brooke

My husband is practical, not romantic. This is why I love him; I’m not interested in sap (well, occasionally a little might be nice) but more importantly, I need those little things. This is why I love Aaron. I am a sleeper. I need sleep. So having a baby was hard on me. Really hard. Aaron is also a sleeper, but he stepped up when Zach was a baby and it continues to this day. In those early baby days when I am up all night and a mess of lactating exhaustion, he gets up with the baby sometimes as early as 5 am and goes in to work late just so I can catch a few extra hours in the mornings. I can’t say what a difference it makes to get those 2-3 extra hours in the morning. It makes the day manageable with a new one. Eventually we all get back into sleeping normal hours but Aaron still sacrifices sleep for me regularly. Whether it’s getting up with the kids so I can go on my 5am runs or feeding them breakfast every morning these days so my tired pregnant body can get that extra hour, he does it without complaining. I’ll take sleep over flowers any day. 

Facebook: Acknowledgement for Moms

Written by BROOKE

I know you have one of these friends too. On a daily basis her Facebook status usually says something like the following:

“Gave birth, ran 12 miles, canned tomatoes I grew in my own garden, cleaned my baseboards with a toothbrush, made my family an organic dinner, took some to the neighbors, whipped up a batch of homemade bread with wheat I ground myself and now I’m pooped! Time for The Bachelor!” 

Gag. Overachiever. Why does she have to post that on Facebook? Does she want the rest of us to feel bad about ourselves? Job well done. 

And then, the other day I did it, too. I Facebook-bragged about cleaning. It was only my pantry; I cleaned it out and organized it. It was something that had been on my to-do list for about, umm, four years (not joking). I did it. And, well, I knew something. I knew that my KIDS were not going to open up the pantry and say “Wow mom! Look how clean and organized this is! It must have taken you all day! Good job, thanks!” I mean, if they said anything remotely like that I would have keeled over and died right there on the spot. No, they just wanted to know where their snacks were now. And my husband? Well I SHOULD be able to count on him to acknowledge that type of thing but let’s be honest. He’s also pretty much only worrying about snacks. I learned the lesson about him and acknowledgement when I proudly showed him one of the cupboards I had spent all day reorganizing in the kitchen shortly after Zach was born. I was SO proud of my productivity. His response? To open up another cupboard, unorganized and overflowing with stuff, and say “What about this one?” I gave up on him after that. 

So what’s a mom to do? I mean come on, I spent ALL day on this project! So I did it. I wrote about it on Facebook. And you know what? It made me feel good! I got the virtual pats on the back from my mom friends. Even those virtual thumbs up brought me a little smile and made me feel like, see, I’m doing a good job here! 

I even took a picture of part of my organized pantry: the snack basket I made for the kids (which turned out to be an epic fail but that’s for another post!)  

And the best part? I didn’t have to post the next day that we stayed in our pajamas and watched movies all day. Nope, no one has to know about that. So now, instead of rolling my eyes at my friends who post about their productive days, I acknowledge them. I tell them, “good job supermom!” or “I could never do that!” After all, isn’t that what we’re all looking for? A little pat on the back for the thankless job we do every day. Thank you Facebook for giving us moms a place to be acknowledged for all the hard work we do.