Thursday, September 29, 2016

Today It Got to Me



I'm writing this even though I don't have time to write this. There will be typos because I think I'm hitting my computer keys so hard that I'm just mashing them at this point.

But this is the rant of a mother who is on the edge. And since I am a single mother with no one to ask me how my day was (and then ignore the answer), this will have to do.

As a single mom, I'm pulled in many different directions at once. And I usually don't mind it too much - I'm one of those people who puts her head down and just does what needs to be done. 

But there are times when my kids seem - dare I say? - ungrateful. And, sure they're kids and they've got other things on their minds other than remembering their mom is a person sometimes and I get that. I don't think I realized my mom was an actual human being until I was in my 20s.

Today it just got to me.

I work from home, mainly so that I can take care of my kids and work around their schedules. This means that I am sometimes working until 9 or 10 at night, but I consider it worth it.

Until I can't do something for one of my kids and they whine about it.

Today it was my son. He and I rarely exchange cross words, but after explaining some weekend plans to him - all of which are extremely inconvenient for me so that I can accommodate him as much as possible - I got a sarcastic "FINE" from the backseat of the car when I explained one little component of the weekend that I just couldn't do.

Which is why I'm writing this blog.

I'm thinking about my day. I woke up this morning like I always do, wondering how in the hell I'm going to fit everything in. Basic needs like showering and meals are usually second to trying to get as much work done as possible so that I can spend the afternoon driving my kids everywhere. Heaven forbid I should have to go to the grocery store, like I did today - I really don't have time for that. I'm looking at the chipped nail polish I have on my toes from when I actually took to the time to put it on - not an actual pedicure, mind you. A Sally Hansen moment in my bedroom - I think sometime in July.

At any moment now, one of my kids will burst into my office to tell me I forgot the one thing they asked for at the store. I'll finish this blog and go into my kitchen where all of my kids will have left their cereal bowls from their snack, even though I yelled at them all about that last night. I will then strap myself into my car for the next three hours getting them to piano lessons and back and a fun spur-of-the-moment team night at the bowling alley (for crying out loud!) that my daughter just told me about.

In between that running around I'll pop in and out of my house trying to make sure dinner is ready by the time we're all home together at 7:30. My youngest daughter will complain that she doesn't like what I've fixed and then she and my son will take an hour to eat it. I will eventually get frustrated and retreat to my office to work while I go back and forth to the table to police their vegetable intake.

By 9:30 I'll be tucking two out of three of them in, because one of them will have forgotten a homework assignment was due tomorrow. I'll look at the book I ordered from Amazon that's been sitting on my nightstand for a week unopened because I haven't had the energy to read it (seriously. I don't have the energy to read a book).

Eventually I'll fall into bed, exhausted and wide awake, thinking about all of the things I didn't get done that will have to fit themselves in the next day.  My dog will be annoyed that I'm taking up so much of his space on my bed. I'll try to remember if I brushed my teeth.

If you're nodding along with this blog, thank you. If you're poised and ready to offer advice - don't. I know that saying about being sad when your house is eventually quiet and believe me, I dread that day (most of the time).

For now, I'm going to send this out into the world and wonder if there's another mother out there like me, hiding in her office, door closed, taking a deep breath before she joins her family and tries to tackle parenthood once more.

21 comments:

  1. Sending you a hug! Hoping the day gets better.

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  2. Sending you positive thoughts and strength! I did not become a widow until age 59 when the love of my life passed. At your age, I had a husband who was so disengaged and busy chasing other women that I may as well have been a single Mom to our two kids since I was doing everything... so I completely understand your frustration and desire to open a window and scream "I can't take this anymore!"... but then get up the next day and do it all again. ❤️

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    1. Yes, there are definitely different levels/layers to being a single mom, right? I'm so sorry that your love passed, but I'm so glad you had him for the time you did. Sounds like you deserved it!

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  3. I completely understand. May the force be with us. One day we will be able to have the time for pedi's and books. But right now that seems soooooo far away.

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  5. Ummm, yeah, that's pretty much every day of my life for almost 4 years now (October 25, so, yay, coming up!) I actually had an out loud conversation in the car the other day with my late husband and god (if he exists), just reminding them I NEVER SIGNED UP FOR THIS. No one seems to care that being a single mom to 3 was not in my plans! And seriously, if I thought it was hard when he died when they were 10, 8, and 6, well, it's only getting worse at 14, 12, and 10. But hey, tomorrow is a new day.... (btw, I loved your book...there aren't books for young widows with small kids). All the best, Kim

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    1. Thinking of you and your upcoming anniversary. I talk to the powers-that-be all of the time. It's hard to be annoyed with someone who's not here to fight back!

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  6. Yes. What else can I say? 100% yes. Too tired to type more ;)

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  7. No, no, no. You are not alone. You are not crazy. And you lift the rest of us up SO MUCH when we recognize our struggles in you. 

    Come out, come out Catherine! Hugs.

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    1. Thank you, Katiu! And I read your previous post - I felt like we were soul sisters! :)

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  8. This. Is. Me. Everyday! Thanks for writing it down and putting it out there. It hurt to be unappreciated when their Dad was alive but at least I had an ally and someone to commiserate with but now it's just me and it usually seems that isn't enough. Btw, I really appreciated your book too.

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  9. I think you have accomplished quite a bit here. I agree with you and we have a discussion going that will identify the crazies. We need both parties and honest dialog.

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  10. I think you have accomplished quite a bit here. I agree with you and we have a discussion going that will identify the crazies. We need both parties and honest dialog.

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  11. I love you-I don't know you but I love you. I only have two kids, I am married to a man who cooks dinner, and I STILL relate to all of this! Every bit. It's like the treadmill that just spins faster - life. Work, chores, things that need fixing, school volunteering, birthday parties, papers that need to be signed (& kids keeping those papers in their backpacks I don't see.) Homework, ballet, drama club, piano, girls scouts and cub scouts, baseball, volleyball, national junior honor society, chess club, Odyssey Club, that's two kids and I swore when I had toddlers and my friends had tweets that I would NEVER be that mom. But I am. And keeping their messy bedroom doors shut is all i can do anymore because I have done every bride, threat, inspiration, fury known to mankind.

    Thank you. Just thank you. It's comforting to know when we're not alone and when people tell the truth. But I also wouldn't trade a single second of it-ok I lie-a weekend - ok two weeks in the Fiji Islands would be totally awesome. For now, the good book sitting waiting on my night stand that never gets read would be nice. I hear you!

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  12. I share most of how you feel about Trump but I feel I must correct a misstatemen made above. You said, "For blaming Hillary for her husband's infidelities when you're a philanderer yourself. And when has a man EVER been blamed for his wife's indiscretions?"
    She has not been blamed for his indiscretions, she has been blamed for how she treated her fellow women when they came forward with their accusations (many proven to be true.) She even led the "bimbo eruptions" team which by its very nature is condoning that behavior. I despise this entire election because I have nowhere to go with my vote for the first time since 1980! You were dead on with the rest of the blog.

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  13. I am not a mother but that does not mean that I don't like how raw and beautiful this blog is. It humanizes all of us and shows each other that we are all human and being human means that we all have good and bad days, tackle more than we can accomplish because we are trying to make everyone happy and attempting to be perfect when perfection does not exist.
    Thank you so much for your blog. You just made me smile and see I am not the only one trying to do everything.

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  14. Just received a check for $500.

    Many times people don't believe me when I tell them about how much you can earn by taking paid surveys from home...

    So I show them a video of myself getting paid $500 for filling paid surveys.

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