No Rest For The Weary

I'm on no sleep!! (hollered in a crazy, Kramer- from- Seinfeld way!) I wish I were kidding. The truth is, I haven't slept through the night in ummm....over four years. Am I alone?? First, I was pregnant and uncomfortable, awakening to pee every five minutes. Then, I had the little bugger and was up nursing, changing diapers and consoling a fussy, teething baby for the next couple years then decided to do it all over again. Now, as I struggle with my son awakening every single night, I wonder...will I ever get a good nights sleep??

Sure, I coddled my kids a bit and co-slept much longer than I "should" have. But regardless of the quality of your nighttime slumber, do us moms ever actually feel rested? Between work, keeping up with household chores, cooking, staying on top of your kid's activities, and maintaining a relationship with your hubby, I dare say, there are very few opportunities to just rest. I'm going to admit, I take complete advantage of life's little loopholes to recharge my ever fading, always low batteries. A kid getting sick and lying on the couch all day or your hubby working late mean mommy gets a break. I take those quiet times and just...sit. Or read a magazine. Or take a freakin' shower! 

You should too. If not, you will experience a nasty little condition I like to call "mommy burnout", you know, the one where you feel like you can't get out of bed, can't make it through the day without large amounts of caffeine and in general feel like you can't go on, like you are wearing cement blocks? Oh, wait. That's me. Every day. Ok, I guess something has got to give. You may not be able to actually sleep, but resting does a lot for the weary. My life usually feels like the movie "Groundhog Day", where I awaken to the same day over and over and over...Make a meal, read a book, take someone pee, give a bath, put to bed...repeat. That's it. And you can never push pause. Sigh.

But when given the chance to take a little break, don't fill it with catching up on laundry or cleaning the bathroom. Catch up on that TV show, read a chapter of that book you've been meaning to finish or just...rest. Lay on your bed with your eyes closed, in case you've been wondering what that foreign word meant! Here's to taking it easy and taking a breather- you deserve it!