It's 5:25am on Monday. I've been up for over an hour already. My body naturally wakes up around 4:30am on most days and for years I forced myself to stay in bed for two more hours until my kids got up. Why? I don't know. I always ended up more tired than if I had just gotten up when my body told me to. I think it either has something to do with my circadian rhythm (yes I remember psych 100) or the fact that it's a lot more pleasant to get up on my own accord than to have little people yanking me from my slumber with demands for breakfast and turning on cartoons. So, for the last 6 months or so I've been getting out of bed and starting my day 2 hours before the kids and it's made mornings a lot more relaxing. It's not like I make use of that extra time by being productive, though. I suppose I could exercise during that time. But so far, I just sit and drink coffee and read or hang out on the computer until the boys wake up. Then I spring into action like the supermom that I am, flipping pancakes, engaging the kids in fun and educational activities, cleaning the house to a magnificent sparkle, managing bills and household tasks all with a smile on my face and appreciation in my heart. Yep, that's
exactly how it goes down.
In reality, things have been stressful lately. Before you have kids you hear people say that "being a mom is the hardest job you'll ever have". And I don't know about you, but I was thinking hard like physically hard or hard to figure out. Turns out, it's not hard physically or intellectually. The stuff you do, even when they are newborns, is easy. Changing diapers? Gross, but easy. Feeding them? Pretty straight forward. Playing and loving on them? Natural. Remind me why this is the hardest job ever again??? Oh yeah, because IT NEVER ENDS. The words mentally draining come to mind. The saying
should be, "being a mom is the most mentally exhausting job you'll ever have", because that is what they mean when they say "hardest". So if you you haven't had kids yet and you are preparing yourself by doing lots of push-ups and sprints and also brushing up on your algebra and reading comprehension, then you can stop right now (
wink). I realized this the first few days I became a mom and I can't say it has gotten any easier since then. Every stage of their lives brings new and different stages, or challenges, I should say. And challenges are great. Challenges are awesome. Twenty four, seven. All day, everyday. Challenges.
Fun.
Anyway, what am I getting at here? Do I even need to mention that along with the constant challenges and mental fatigue is the many rewarding and life altering joys that come with it? No, that's a given. It's amazing watching your kids grow up and it's worth every moment. But it is hard, it is stressful, there are tears of exhaustion and frustration. There is guilt and disappointment and wanting to be alone for just 5 minutes. So, that's where I'm at right now.
