Some evenings when I'm tucking my children into bed (read: putting them back into bed as they scream "I want Maaaaamaaaaa" and run to block the door I'm attempting to close), I feel my chest tighten. My fight-or-flight response system sounds the Red Alert. It issues an immediate evacuation notice and my adrenalin kicks in to carry out the mandate. The children come at me, arms stretched out like zombies, seeking to poke their little straws into my flesh and suck up every last drop of my blood. "I have nothing left to give you,!" I scream in my head.
Last night, the kids went down without major effort. Still, a few minutes later Eleanor padded softly down the stairs and appeared in the kitchen. "I don't know why," she said, "but my brain keeps telling me, 'I want Mama. I want Mama. I want Mama.'"
Well, my brain is telling me I want a good stiff drink, a soak in the bathtub, and world peace, I thought. "Tell your brain to be quiet and go to sleep," I advised.
Eli recently discovered how to climb out of his crib. Today he refused to take a nap and opted for climbing practice instead, despite Tobin patiently and repeatedly putting him back in his crib. This means he was nothing more than a puddle of tears-- loud, whiney tears-- by the time we had dinner tonight. My good little sleeper! The Easy One! Where have you gone? The tight cold grip of panick fingered my neck as Eli fought against going to bed tonight.
It's not necessarily sleep that I'm lacking. Thankfully I have no newborn to disrupt my night-time. (Though the odds of being disrupted by any one of my three children due to winter illnesses that seem to strike in the middle-of-the-night are pretty high on any given night). What I am craving, what I need, is simply some TIME FOR MYSELF. In capital letters in case you're missing the point.
Thus I've declared Monday, January 7 as Mama Appreciation Day. I will take the day off. I will schedule a massage. I will see a movie. I will eat out for lunch and dinner. I will return home long after the children are tucked into bed.
I may or may not need a blood transfusion by then. You know, on account of the zombies.
13 comments:
January 7th. it just may become a national holiday.
Now, what made you pick January 7th? Is it just that it is sufficiently past the holidays to feel as though this day off might actually be possible?
I'm marking my calendar! I am going to tell my husband and kids it is an official day. Much better than Mother's Day which I always feel should be spent with my kids, not away from them. We definitely need a Mom's Day Away sort of day!!
Oh, and time for yourself is no small thing. It is a necessity.
ally i don't know how you do it.
you are amazing! it's funny how quickly my mama meter runs out after 7:00 as we wind down.
january 7th. okay....i want to join in that celebration. my day may shift depending on grandparent availability, but somehow, i will celebrate that day!
Well, I might try and join in, to get the ball rolling as an offical 'Mothers Day off'. If I start saving up now, I might spend the day getting tattood, then going out with what few friends I have (as post bby, my friends have dissapeared, lol)
Methinks you need to make up banners and buttons for all the mummy blogs out there!
I get this. Oh, yes, I do. After 8:30pm I turn into enraged mommy.
Good for you! Take that day and run with it. As a matter of fact, take a week!
Why is everyone posting on sleep lately?!?
I know that feeling. I often feel like the stump in "The Giving Tree"
Oh yes, the Burnt Out point...you describe it perfectly!
I like that "tell your brain to go to sleep."
And Jan 7...it's marked!
Julie
Using My Words
"well my brain is telling me I want a good stiff drink..." i laughed out loud at this line as I could totally picture this transaction with E. I'm feeling burned out too...and so I love your declaration of a mom's day off that you've put on the calendar. it sounds like i better hurry and book my massage since the words spreading :)
AMEN, SISTER! I am going to do it too, but a week earlier because the 7th is the return-to-school day.
You are a smartie, miss smartie.
Love you,
LM
What an absolutely brilliant idea.
You should lobby Hallmark to turn it into a holiday.
That is how holidays are created, right?
hmm I don't know what this feels like, really, having no kids of my own. but it sounds like a scary thing - raising zombies who suck the life out of you... I need to rethink my desire to have kidlets one day. ;)
Good for you, girl! Even without kids I understand the need for some time to yourself. It's important, imperative even, to rejuvenate. Press on - Mom's Day Off is only 38 days away!
Ummmmm, why are you waiting until January 7th. I say monthly or weekly Mama days are TOTALLY necessary for mommies to maintain their sanity thusly being able to return to the fray that is caring for several small children. And I don't even have any of them yet - just an observation from years of taking care of mommies...
here's hoping that Mama's Day becomes just another Friday ;-)
Soooooo, how was it? :^)
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