I didn't post anything yesterday because I wasn't feeling well. Blame it on PPD, SAD, PMS, or just plain being SICK. I woke up with a horrible headache and I felt very pukey. I am not one who throws up easily. When I am sick to my stomach, I just lie very still for 24 hours, until the sick goes away. John doesn't get this. He thinks I should just barf and get it over with...but I just can't!
So, yesterday I spent the day in the horizontal position. Thankfully, John got up and took the kids to school for me and got Lincoln a bottle. Later in the day, I was able to walk downstairs, in the hunched-over position, to take a nap. That helped a lot. As the day progressed, I felt better and better.
It's so funny, how when you're not able to clean, you want to! I was lying on the couch, helplessly looking at the disaster grow and grow around me. The kids are pretty good about cleaning up, so the disaster did get back under control. But the things I typically do, didn't get done. This would include dishes and laundry.
So, you guessed it! That is what I am doing today. I have to admit, though, I was already behind on laundry. I had a huge mound of clothes on the basement floor. When I got to the bottom, the clothes were actually stuck to the floor! Oh, YUCK! In order to stay on top of laundry, I have to do laundry every day. This doesn't happen, so I am always behind.
This morning I finally got the kitchen cleaned. There's something about having a clean kitchen that makes the world a happy place to me. We have an older house. It was built in 1944. There was no dishwasher when we moved in. We immediately bought a portable dishwasher that hooks up to the kitchen sink. Well, about 2 or 3 months ago, it started leaking everytime I did a load of dishes. It would take about 6 towels to mop up the mess. But, on the bright side, the kitchen floor was always clean! So, about 2 weeks ago, we finally replaced that dishwasher with a new one. I am so grateful for dishwashers!
Being sick can really give me a much needed change in perspective. I feel so much better today, and along with that, I have renewed energy. Along with the laundry and kitchen, I got a closet organized that had been driving me nuts. Now, I just have 6 more closets to organize, several cupboards, my desk, the china hutch, the top of the fridge, the boys' bedroom...uggg. The list keeps growing. But, as I've had more children, I've become more forgiving of myself. Where I use to expect perfection, now I just want happiness. Happiness is so much easier to come by!
For the unaware:
PPD= post-partum depression
SAD= seasonal affect disorder
PMS= pre-menstrual sydrome
SICK= uh, sick
Cynthia
Worst-Day Survival Tips for Moms
ReplyDeleteBy Susan Elzey
My daughters and daughters-in-law all have cute blogs they update with the latest adventures of their families and pictures of the grandchildren. It’s fun—especially since they do all the work. Before Christmas, my daughter-in-law, the mother of four little girls ages 1 to 7, posted the story of one of her mornings and reminded me of all the similar morning and days I had raising my three girls and four very active sons.
My daughter-in-law’s story began one busy morning when she was getting ready to take kids to pre-school and her 1-year-old had found a makeup compact and thrown it against a wall, smashing it, with plastic and makeup splattering everywhere.
Then she followed her mom upstairs to pretend to clean the tub as she usually did while her mom took a shower. The only difference this time was that she had found a bottle of hot pink nail polish, pounded it until it cracked and painted the tub with it.
After being scrubbed with nail polish remover, bathed and changed, the cute little tot was banished downstairs while her mom finished dressing. During that time, she discovered the water dispenser on the fridge wasn’t locked and held it, flooding the kitchen. She also found time to undecorate the bottom of the tree and shatter three ornaments.
We’ve all been there, right?
That story got a chuckle from me as it reminded me of one silly little way I learned to cope, which I’d like to share with frustrated mothers of little children everywhere.
Here’s how it works: When you are having trouble dealing with all the daily trials of little children, remember your worst day ever and pat yourself on the back for being a survivor, then go on. Of course, this involves the ordinary, frustrating days of motherhood, not days spent in surgical waiting rooms or other truly heart-wrenching, life-changing days. Just days like when your toddler learns to climb out of the crib and open the refrigerator door the same day. (Child #5 for me.)
Here was the evening—actually just half-an-hour—that taught me I could cope with just about any everyday annoyance with children and live to laugh about it.
My mother and I had traveled five hours away to take my oldest daughter, Dawn, who has cerebral palsy, to see a therapist in Washington, D.C., along with my 5-year-old, Dennis, who was terrified of hotel toilets and my 2-year-old, Michael.
We ate dinner at a restaurant across the parking lot from the hotel, and Michael stuffed his little belly with cream of broccoli soup. As we finished, it began to rain, so my mother started back with Dawn and Dennis, and I stayed to pay with Michael in my arms. Well, we got to the cash register, and Michael threw up several times all over the carpet. No one offered to help—I wouldn’t have either!—so I dragged him screaming back and forth to the bathroom to get paper towels and clean the carpet.
When I had done the best I could, I headed outside to what was now a torrential downpour that had flooded the parking lot. I slogged to the room in ankle-deep water where Dennis had squeezed himself into the cot that was standing up, so that he was only a talking head. I laid Michael down on the bed to find out he had a fever and had broken out with the chicken pox.
(to be continued)
Worst Day (continued)
ReplyDeleteWith everything under relative control and Mother in charge, I decided to get out of my wet clothes and take a warm shower. With the talking head in the cot screaming not to let the toilet overflow, I went into the bathroom and got undressed. I then turned on the shower, and the whole faucet fell off in my hands. All that was left was a large hole in the wall! The water gushed out full force and straight across to the opposite wall, bounced off and started quickly filling up the tub.
I threw on my clothes again, inside out, and ran out, yelling for my mother to call the office. Dennis was terrified and screamed even louder since his worst fear had come to pass when he was trapped in a mattress.
My mother finally convinced the manager he needed to get down there quickly, so he came running in as the bathtub was about to overflow. Realizing there was no way to turn the faucet off since there was no faucet, he took a guess at where the water turnoff valve was hidden behind the wall and, with great effort, kicked a hole in the wall until he could turn the water off.
And that was possibly the most exciting half an hour of my life. It was extremely stressful while it happened, but it has brought us many laughs since. And I figured if I could survive an intense case of a vomiting sick child, a screaming child in a mattress and a plumbing nightmare, I could survive anything.
In the years to come, whenever things got really bad with the kids, I always thought back to that piece of an evening and figured, “If it doesn’t get worse than that, I can do it.”
That technique has worked better for me than the old survival tip of looking around for people who are worse off than you, and I certainly don’t advise looking forward to the day when your children are all grown and gone—when you get there, you will miss them more than you can imagine.
So just think of the worst normal day you have ever experienced, realize you have the ability to survive and endure and, if all else fails, remember that bedtime eventually comes to all children.
Think of it—what was your worst day with kids? Commit it to memory—the survival of our species is depending on it! (The end)
Sometimes I may act like I've lost some marbles or have a few screws loose, but I really am just a survivor. Love ya lots!!!
I have issues with laundry. It is NEVER done, no matter what! Even if we all were naked (that's sick), there are sheets on the bed, rugs on the floor, used towels in the bathroom, etc.
ReplyDeleteHappiness is a good every day goal!