Lushgurl gave a fair representation of my day yesterday in her latest blog entry. Thank you, Lushgurl, for coming to my rescue. Nobody has died from food poisoning and I haven't yet thrown a hissy fit while desperately trying to find anything you put away. I shall allow you to grace us with your presence again soon.
My dear friend referred to me, The Maven, as "overwhelmed".
Some other synonyms for overwhelmed are: innundated, swamped, exhausted, and my personal favourite, about to burn one's house down and go live in a snow hut because one can't get the damn thing clean to save one's life.
I woke up yesterday in a great mood, you know. Sure, Gutsy had a cold and Spawnling probably wasn't far behind, but I had the entire day to spend with them in our cute little home, doing fun things like baking, playing games and watching a movie.
The problem arose when I realized the kitchen was too messy to bake in, the diningroom table was still full of the previous day's folded-and-not-yet-put-away laundry (we actually pushed the piles into the middle of the table to eat tacos the night before) and I thought I might have a hard time finding the t.v. stand in all the toys cluttering the floor.
By this point my breathing became heavier, my eyes grew wide and my eye ticked just a little.
I put on my snorkel and mask and dove into the dirty dishes on the counter to find the phone. I found it stuck between the cheese grater and an old bowl of yoghurt. Not even noticing the young colony of germs sailing across the keypad to the new world, I quickly dialed Lushgurl's number and said 'Yeah, hi. I'm feeling a bit... overwhelmed today.'
As I said this, I stepped on a Little People school bus, zoomed about three feet across the livingroom and landed - with Spawnling in my arms - onto the ottoman. The very last thread attaching sanity to my brain frayed and I laughed a laugh only known to mothers and the homeless guy I used to see downtown who walked an imaginary dog.
Within two hours, Lushgurl was scrubbing my counter and cooking us dinner. What are friends for?
So yes, I guess I have been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately. And frankly, I feel like the planet's biggest wuss; there are people in my own backyard who's lives make mine look like a frolic through Happy Puppy Forest. Unfortunately, my happy puppy has gone rabid and is chasing me through the forest while leaving a trail of toys, clothes and an assortment of snack leftovers in its wake.
Oh, hang on. That's just Gutsy.
Seriously, though. I don't know how to do it all anymore. I had it all going on with two kids. Going from one to two wasn't all that hard, after all. Two hands, two gremlins. No problem. The Maven has incredible powers of adaptability, or so she thought.
Now I find myself jumping from one unfinished task to the next, sighing a lot and grinding my teeth.
I find myself with a baby who saves nearly all his sleep for nightfall and doesn't like to be put down for more than 10 or 15 minutes in a two hour period.
I find myself with a four-year-old who wants to spend so much time with me that I'm thinking of ordering a blow-up doll with my face on it and a voice recording saying 'I love you, Gutsy. Why don't you read me a book and we'll snuggle on the couch?' every time he taps it on the shoulder.
I find myself with a ten-year-old who breaks my heart because he genuinely seems ok with not having me available to him like I used to before I had the bright idea to give him two more siblings. I feel guilty every time I look at him. If he figures this out he might be able to wrangle some expensive electronic items from me. I should probably start scowling to throw him off.
I find myself with a husband who's birthday is coming up and I haven't been able to get out to get him a gift, let alone spend a lot of time with him. And yet he listened last night as I poured my heart out to him about how I've been feeling lately and told me I'm doing a really great job balancing everything, even if I don't think I am. I think he's completely lost his mind if he truly believes that, but it was nice to hear anyway.
I find myself with friends I don't call often but who still call me because I have a hot voice and they want to hear me on the phone. That or they want to feel better about their own lives so they like to listen to the background noise of fighting gremlins and screaming Spawnling when they talk to me. They come clean my house, they take me out for coffee and they give me hugs. I really don't deserve all that, but I appreciate it endlessly.
I find myself with a house that is pretty much condemnable on most days and is an embarrassment to invite people into. I think one of my friend's toddlers is still stuck in a cobweb in the family room. I should probably go bring her a sippy cup and switch the Baby Einstein video.
I find myself with a stack of novels to read for a course and six months to do it (which seems like an eternity if you haven't read the above paragraphs). Anyone have a magic wand? Preferably with several charges as I have years of part-time university to go through. Thanks.
Oh, and regular AA meetings and two school board committees and a non-profit committee and several other commitments. . Wouldn't want to get bored with all that free time on my hands.
Anyone have a chocolate magic wand? I could eat it after it runs out of spells.
My dear friend referred to me, The Maven, as "overwhelmed".
Some other synonyms for overwhelmed are: innundated, swamped, exhausted, and my personal favourite, about to burn one's house down and go live in a snow hut because one can't get the damn thing clean to save one's life.
I woke up yesterday in a great mood, you know. Sure, Gutsy had a cold and Spawnling probably wasn't far behind, but I had the entire day to spend with them in our cute little home, doing fun things like baking, playing games and watching a movie.
The problem arose when I realized the kitchen was too messy to bake in, the diningroom table was still full of the previous day's folded-and-not-yet-put-away laundry (we actually pushed the piles into the middle of the table to eat tacos the night before) and I thought I might have a hard time finding the t.v. stand in all the toys cluttering the floor.
By this point my breathing became heavier, my eyes grew wide and my eye ticked just a little.
I put on my snorkel and mask and dove into the dirty dishes on the counter to find the phone. I found it stuck between the cheese grater and an old bowl of yoghurt. Not even noticing the young colony of germs sailing across the keypad to the new world, I quickly dialed Lushgurl's number and said 'Yeah, hi. I'm feeling a bit... overwhelmed today.'
As I said this, I stepped on a Little People school bus, zoomed about three feet across the livingroom and landed - with Spawnling in my arms - onto the ottoman. The very last thread attaching sanity to my brain frayed and I laughed a laugh only known to mothers and the homeless guy I used to see downtown who walked an imaginary dog.
Within two hours, Lushgurl was scrubbing my counter and cooking us dinner. What are friends for?
So yes, I guess I have been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately. And frankly, I feel like the planet's biggest wuss; there are people in my own backyard who's lives make mine look like a frolic through Happy Puppy Forest. Unfortunately, my happy puppy has gone rabid and is chasing me through the forest while leaving a trail of toys, clothes and an assortment of snack leftovers in its wake.
Oh, hang on. That's just Gutsy.
Seriously, though. I don't know how to do it all anymore. I had it all going on with two kids. Going from one to two wasn't all that hard, after all. Two hands, two gremlins. No problem. The Maven has incredible powers of adaptability, or so she thought.
Now I find myself jumping from one unfinished task to the next, sighing a lot and grinding my teeth.
I find myself with a baby who saves nearly all his sleep for nightfall and doesn't like to be put down for more than 10 or 15 minutes in a two hour period.
I find myself with a four-year-old who wants to spend so much time with me that I'm thinking of ordering a blow-up doll with my face on it and a voice recording saying 'I love you, Gutsy. Why don't you read me a book and we'll snuggle on the couch?' every time he taps it on the shoulder.
I find myself with a ten-year-old who breaks my heart because he genuinely seems ok with not having me available to him like I used to before I had the bright idea to give him two more siblings. I feel guilty every time I look at him. If he figures this out he might be able to wrangle some expensive electronic items from me. I should probably start scowling to throw him off.
I find myself with a husband who's birthday is coming up and I haven't been able to get out to get him a gift, let alone spend a lot of time with him. And yet he listened last night as I poured my heart out to him about how I've been feeling lately and told me I'm doing a really great job balancing everything, even if I don't think I am. I think he's completely lost his mind if he truly believes that, but it was nice to hear anyway.
I find myself with friends I don't call often but who still call me because I have a hot voice and they want to hear me on the phone. That or they want to feel better about their own lives so they like to listen to the background noise of fighting gremlins and screaming Spawnling when they talk to me. They come clean my house, they take me out for coffee and they give me hugs. I really don't deserve all that, but I appreciate it endlessly.
I find myself with a house that is pretty much condemnable on most days and is an embarrassment to invite people into. I think one of my friend's toddlers is still stuck in a cobweb in the family room. I should probably go bring her a sippy cup and switch the Baby Einstein video.
I find myself with a stack of novels to read for a course and six months to do it (which seems like an eternity if you haven't read the above paragraphs). Anyone have a magic wand? Preferably with several charges as I have years of part-time university to go through. Thanks.
Oh, and regular AA meetings and two school board committees and a non-profit committee and several other commitments. . Wouldn't want to get bored with all that free time on my hands.
Anyone have a chocolate magic wand? I could eat it after it runs out of spells.