I’m In The Weeds, Man
The smack of my phone screen slapping the floor made me jolt. What just happened?! Why is it so dark? Did something touch my hand? Hold on, no, that was my phone falling out of my hand. Excuse me while I slide the back of my index finger across the edge of my lower lip to clean the drool. Do I have my kids today? What planet am I on?
This is Mother’s Day week, amiright? I instantly envision a harrowing silhouette of a braided Katniss Everdeen, saluting us all. I mean, really in a way, we all volunteered as tribute when started this wild journey of motherhood. Here’s what the week looks like as a fifty-percenter parent… After spending the first, kid-less half of my week attending to the Parent-Teacher Organization responsibilities of wrapping up a 5-figure budget and an end of the year board meeting, alongside a couple of work shifts, I was greeted by the usual mass chaos of our midweek reuniting. Wednesday evenings are always generally filled with over-stimulation for mom, an over-abundance of attitude and energy from the kids and our time loaded with sports and bible study. But hey! It’s the week of Mother’s Day, so naturally May has to throw in a little something extra: Dance recital week!
After surviving day 1 of their return home (and start of recital events), I followed up the day with a Thursday morning start of 6 am breakfasts, 3 packed lunches, 3 snacks and filled water bottles… before scooting them onto the bus so I could gear my geriatric laptop up for back to back meetings for my other job… until my kids came rambunctiously back through the front door… so I could inevitably feed them again, while we all enjoyed a brief kitchen dance party… before loading up my car to go set up a welcome table at our Parent-Teacher Organization sponsored school event for a few hours… only to be WAY-OVER the idea of cooking any kind of dinner… so we swung in for a little of the divine epicureanism that is our local Applebee’s… before I had to herd the adrenaline-junky chickens into their beds. Did they even change into pajamas?
To quote the fantastic Jan Hatmaker (worth the follow),
“For unclear reasons, this Sunday is a day to celebrate us during arguably our worst month of the year. We are in the weeds, man.”
Could anything else be truer than this?! There are all sorts of endearing, funny, and sentimental postings that resonate with us mommas at this time of year, but not more than the cruel irony that Mother’s Day was placed smack-dab in the middle of our busiest month of the year. There will be concerts, field trips, showcases, carnivals, teacher’s appreciation week, spring sports starting, end of school year projects and deadlines, and of course, dance recitals. It’s pretty hard not to give that a laugh!
The chickens were in their coop and I made my typical way towards my back deck. In the sight that I’d have to pull out all my outdoor sofa cushions, I opted for the cozy, oversized chair next to my open window instead. It was my end-of-night debrief time. To sit in the quiet for a minute and gauge how scrambled my nerves were before centering them again. Unwittingly, it seemed, I had fallen asleep. That is certainly one way to unwind.
They will tell you the days are long but the years are short. I can tell you they feel just a little bit longer and a little bit shorter when you’re a single parent, for sure. I have a very full 3 days more ahead of me of school, recitals and family, and we are already quite tired. I wouldn’t trade them for the world, but I just might be willing to borrow them for a nap! Someday, when I have a steady routine and consecutive nights of sleep, I’m going to miss this. I’m going to miss these long days when they were all mine and we powered through them together. When people aren’t sure how to approach this holiday topic with me, understanding there isn’t “another half” hurriedly picking up last minute cards or flowers for me from the kids, I’m going to remember there were years I wasn’t allowed to even spend this day with my own kids. So although there aren’t any special plans for myself, I will celebrate in spending our busy weekend simply together.
That being said, if one more person asks me if I am doing something for my Mother’s Day, I’m going to remind them what month it is…
“We are in the weeds, man! ”