To The People That Are Offended By The Word "Asshole"

I've received such wonderful feedback from my article 3 Year Olds are Assholes. I want to address the issue of profanity used in the piece.

As I mentioned in my HuffPost Live interview, it's not acceptable to use profanity at your children. However, as parents we're humans. We may think these things in our minds. We may need to step out of the other room to take a breather from an intense negotiation with our toddler, because we need a break.

Parenting is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I can say that with all honesty. Anyone who claims that parenting is easy is either a liar or in denial. Straight up.

It's okay to feel frustrated with your children. It is okay to be angry at not being able to control a situation. We are all humans, including our kids, and hence, we are not perfect. We're deeply flawed creatures. A part of being flawed is recognizing that we may have angry thoughts related to our children when we are having a bad parenting day.

And guess what? That's okay. You have to forgive yourself as a parent. Forgive the fact that you may not want to look at your child after they threw your cell phone in the toilet. And by the way, that's a real life example. My daughter actually threw my IPhone into the crapper.

If you have a problem with my usage of the term "assholes," I encourage you to take a look at the bigger picture of the article. I want you to understand that it is okay to both love and feel incredibly exasperated by your children and their defiant behavior.

Feel free to substitute the word "asshole" for something that makes you more comfortable. But please, do not shame me for using that word in my mind. Please allow me to enjoy my own personal catharsis so that I'm able to be a great mother to my children.

And (contrary to your understanding) I am a wonderful mother despite my flaws and my bad days.

Thank you for reading and now go give your asshole toddlers a big hug.