Is it just me or do long weekend weeks mess y’all up too? I loved having two bonus days this week since school was canceled for Monday and Tuesday. No early morning alarm, no rushing here and there, just nice days home. I’m a fan of bonus days. When they are happening, that is. Then, reality sets in again and I lose all track of days somehow. For us, reality came in the form of a 6am alarm yesterday morning. To give credit where it’s due here, Mickey’s watch is our alarm, so it’s not so much a blaring screech as it is a polite beep. But, still, anything that breaks you out of a nice sleep at six in the morning isn’t exactly the epitome of polite. There is no snooze happening here either. The watch beeps and the routine starts. We have been doing this so long that our mornings tend to go smoothly. Mickey and I work together to get breakfast on the table, then I pack lunches while he clears dishes, he drives Mariana to school first and then I drive the middle school carpool later. It just works. Thankfully, we have a great system in place and we have back-ups for when we need them. We are very fortunate in that way. But, still, when that beep sounds at 6am and it’s still DARK outside…I’m not even going to act like I hop out of bed and sing a happy song. It’s more like I stumble to the bathroom, fumble to the kitchen, and finally start to emerge from the haze when the first cup of coffee makes its way into my system. Coffee, for the win!
Back to what I was saying originally – long weekend weeks mess me up. I love them, but after regular routine starts back again I’m off a day or two. Today, for instance, does NOT feel like Thursday. I don’t know what day it feels like, but it doesn’t seem like Thursday. Regardless of how it feels, I have to convince my tired brain that today is grocery day and I have to get the grocery list and coupons ready because we are running so low on lunch supplies that these girls may have to hunt and gather in order to have lunches tomorrow if I don’t drag myself to Publix. I’m mostly kidding, but not by much.
I find that the first day back after a holiday break or just a day off is a little easier than the second day. I don’t really know WHY, but the first day back I can usually bounce right up as if I am a real morning person. By the second day, I’m back to wishing for a coffee IV. Today is the second day after a break and I’m feeling it. I didn’t sleep well last night, for some reason. I woke up about 15 minutes before the alarm and, logically, I know the best thing I can do is get on up at that point. That wasn’t happening today. It almost felt like back in the day when I was single and working full time and would carefully time out how many times I could snooze before I would be late for work. 5:45 wake up with a “snooze” until 6am today? Ahhhh. Yes. Didn’t do one single thing to improve my lack of “get up and go” this morning, but I don’t think I could have been pried out of bed with a crowbar any sooner than I had to be this morning. And now here I sit, writing this blog post that probably makes very little sense because I don’t even have a full grasp on what day it is. Where’s a hashtag for mom life when you need one anyway?
Do you ever have those days? Some days I feel like I’ve got this. I am on top of things, I’m owning it. Other days? Days that start like TODAY? I totally feel like I’m phoning it in and just cruising on autopilot. I have a feeling that most of us parents feel that way, right? I sometimes think that I must be the only one that feels like I’m barely holding it together sometimes, but I bet that’s not the case. Parenting is awesome and is seriously my dream job in every way, but, let’s just be real here, it’s also very hard. Being ultimately responsible for shaping the lives of other humans? Not a small thing and never to be taken lightly. So, when I’m feeling like I have it all together, I’m THANKFUL because I think those moments are affirmations that when those tough times come, we’re still hanging in there. I think the girls need to see that in me too. I think they need to have every confidence I’m giving it my all, because I am, but they also need to know that sometimes you just can’t carry it all, you can’t be everything to everybody, and you just have to keep on keeping on because another day soon comes. And, tomorrow, that other day happens to be Friday…hallelujah!
Happy THURSDAY, y’all…
Kel
