You come home late from work. Your time at work follows you home: your difficult co-worker, your boss’ unreasonable timeline, too much paperwork… You haven’t been feeling really well lately. Thoughts of “chronic fatigue” run through your mind. You’ve been making ends meet, but you’re always shuffling something, putting off paying a bill till the next paycheck. You find yourself avoiding answering the phone, and spending less time with friends. What time!!!
As you pull up to your house there’s a sagging sense of not being equal to the task. While you love your kids, you choose to stay in the car a few extra minutes just to try and get some peace and quiet before you face the onslaught of demands, needs, tempers…. “When will I EVER get time for myself?” you think aloud, and then immediately feel both angry and selfish.
As you enter the house the kids come at you all at once—a wave—and they are jostling one another for your attention: one is tattling, one is yelling, and one is whining…and you haven’t even got your coat off yet! For a split second you consider turning around and running away…both silly and appealing.
Dinner has got to be started, homework battles to be fought, tempers to be soothed and each child demanding (needing) quality time with you.
You helplessly try and remember the strategies you discussed at parenting class last week…and what night is that class anyway? And who will you get to baby-sit this week?
Wherever you turn there are problems on top of problems: work, health, school, money, the-ex. It’s all so overwhelming. And you get to do it all over again tomorrow!
© 2011 by Daniel McMannis and HeartMentors
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