I sit down on the couch with my dinner, a dinner hours late because of a longer work day than planned, and turn on the news while simultaneously scrolling through social media. I realize immediately this was a bad attempt at unwinding.
I’m instantly bombarded with COVID this, COVID that. Vaccination this, vaccination that. Taliban this, Taliban that.
School emails flood my inbox with COVID cases and quarantine rules. I’m reading about parents rallying outside of schools. Shortages in every industry again and maybe even worse now.
My mind is spinning and I honestly just want to cry.
As the world crumbles
It’s hard raising tiny humans let alone this very instance where it feels like the world is crumbling beneath our feet and there’s no stopping this large sink hole that has opened up.
We are being sucked in like a vortex whether we want to acknowledge it or not.
As if work isn’t a stressor in and of itself, because of vaccine mandates, people have resigned left and right to hold true to their values and stand up for their rights and beliefs. We are back to running on skeletons and being forced to run shifts and work at locations we didn’t sign up to work at because we literally have no choice. Even if that means we have to drive and extra 45 minutes each way. I feel like a mobile healthcare worker shipped here and there.
Our kids are left with constant instability
My kids wonder why we decline certain things, why they have to wear masks and why plans suddenly get canceled last minute. It’s getting exhausting to explain because it changes daily and hourly anymore. Nothing is set in stone.
Everyday we wake up wondering what’s coming next. And every day that our child comes home healthy from school is another silent win in our book.
Lately our patience is short and so is our tempers. We find ourselves hating the person we’ve become. We are resenting the world and it’s starting to show in front of our children.
It’s ok to preserve your sanity
I don’t have the answers right now, maybe you don’t either. And that’s ok. Maybe we need to turn off the news, stop doom scrolling, take a break from our email, go for a run or a hike, take ten minutes to do your own nails, read a good book.
To the emotionally exhausted mom reading this, I see you. You are not alone. If you need a minute to yourself, take it. The kids will still be there when your return.
It’s not neglect, it’s preservation of your sanity.
