When Life is HecticEvery morning after the kids wake up, Yousef goes to preschool while I go to the gym for an hour, get any groceries we need for the house, and run a few more errands. Until 1:30pm, the pace of daily life is good and in most cases, stress-free. The moment I am in the house and caring for two and in many cases three (when my step-daughter is over), life gets hectic, and I get exhausted.
Add that to accumulated sleep-deprivation for the last 8 months and you get an overwhelmed-mama on the loose. By 8pm every night, I'm so out of it, unable to focus and not in the mood to do anything but sleep. This has been the case more often than not these days.
My concern is this: how do you explain to your kids that "mama is just exhausted all the time because she doesn't sleep good", and how do you expect kids to understand that to the point where they change their behaviour?
With my step-daughter who is 8, it was easy to explain that mamas sometimes need a break and when the don't get it, they tend to get exhausted. With my two younger babies (2 years and 8 months), it is impossible. And when both are crying at the same time on a super-high pitch for me to carry them, I know the look on my face and my tone of voice signal a desire to crash. Of course, they pick up on it and increase their wining. Is it ok to attempt to explain your emotions or physical state to a 2-year-old to get some space?
1 comment:
Well Noora,I think if a child can understand the meaning of NO at 6 months then at the age of 2 I'm sure they can understand more than we give them credidt to.
My advice is to try and try again till the message is clear.
He may cry and try to stop you from ur very needed time alone but eventualy, with prsistance u can get there.
Good luck.
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