Today was "one of those days". Come on, you know the ones. From the time you get out of bed you know you'd be better off just staying there for the day, when you have no energy, no patience, and no attention for anything. Today we had a play date at the park, and I considered the possibility that I shouldn't have worn my Attachment Parenting International t-shirt, because I wasn't a very good example of attachment parenting.
I find that these days most often occur when I haven't been taking good care of myself. I haven't gotten enough rest, or I haven't eaten well, or perhaps I haven't gotten enough quiet time - as an extremely introverted person, I need daily chunks of silence in order to maintain my sanity. I think that many people who experience "parenting fatigue", a subset of "compassion fatigue", know exactly what I'm talking about.
We've all heard the cliche, that if we don't take care of ourselves we can't take care of anyone else. You know, you put on your oxygen mask on the airplane before putting one on anyone else. Blah, blah, blah. Easier said than done, when you have a vibrant preschooler and a crabby baby to take care of, and dogs, and cats, and a house, and a job, and school - oh, right, and a marriage too!
So in the spirit of self-care, I'm off to an early bedtime with a good book (once the small crabby boy is sleeping, of course), and then tomorrow I am going to hear Shannon Hayes give a presentation on Radical Homemaking in Princeton. And then maybe I'll find myself a cup of coffee before coming home...
No comments:
Post a Comment