I have a sick child
pjs for all; house-bound
Frozen sing-a-long!
Tag Archives: isolation
Tough Right Now
Life is really tough right now.
I knew it would be, but this doesn’t make it any easier.
People ask how I am doing, and what am I supposed to say? I tell them the truth – that it’s hard and that I am doing the best that I can – but if I truly stop and express to them just how hard and just how much I struggle, then I fear I’ll just fall apart.
I need more human contact. My son needs more human contact. It’s good for us. But getting there, getting OUT, is SO. FREAKING. HARD.
Today we got up and tried to get to playgroup. I got up around 7:45. The playgroup started at 10:30. By 11:45 I was still feeding my youngest a bottle. I texted to cancel. We ended up taking a walk, by ourselves, in the freezing cold because it was the easiest and quickest way to get outside. Yes, it was better than nothing, but man, it sucked.
And that’s the thing – I don’t expect perfection, but I feel like I am trying my hardest and that I’m still failing. At some point in the day, I’m always failing SOMEbody. Sometimes it’s me (because I can’t make social contact with friends), or the baby (because she’s screaming hungry and has to wait), or my toddler (because he’s screaming that he wants to go outside but has to wait), or my husband (because he listens to me complain and cry and fall apart).
I usually start the day off trying my best to cope, like today. But the time ticks by and more and more gets in the way of reaching our meager goals (getting to playgroup), when it finally comes crashing down because my toddler kicks me in the jaw and I burst into tears, or my baby won’t nurse even though I know she’s hungry and I burst into tears. These days, it’s rare to get through the day without feeling like the walls are crashing down on me.
I have glimpses of hope and reminders that life gets better. I try and hold onto those. But living in the moment requires breaking down, because the here and now is often unbearable. That’s why I am always on my damn phone – if I can just check out for a minute, maybe I can regroup and reenter my life. Or just pass the time; maybe when I lift my head, things will be different. Better.
So I’m coping. At least I am getting more sleep these days, but I am still choosing sleep over most other things. I choose sleep over chores, over human interaction, over getting out of the house. Because if I am not moderately rested, nothing else matters. That may sound dramatic, but it’s true. Here’s the catch, though: if I’m not a zombie physically (sleep deprived), then I’m a zombie emotionally (isolated). It’s like I can’t win.
Not to mention that this winter, everyone and their mom is sick. Everyone in my family was sick a month ago, including my newborn, and that was pure hell. Less sleep and meeting with other people all mean a higher chance of getting sick again…so perhaps hunkering down is what we just need to do right now, even though I don’t have a whole lot of choice in the matter at the moment. I suppose all these circumstances just mean I super prioritize what get togethers we try and attend.
Lest I begin rambling, I will simply repeat my point in closing.
Life is really tough right now.
The Day After
My parents just left after a week-long visit and I’m sad.
The day after kind, helpful company leaves is always tough, for many reasons. One, I’ve just lost a huge help in terms of cleaning and food prep and all the energy it takes to give attention to Dylan. Two, Dylan gets very used to all the constant, undivided attention during the visit and he’s usually more needy and whiny than usual after they leave, and I’m left to deal with that. Three, I’ve just lost rational, adult humans to talk to and eat with every day. It highlights just how isolated and alone I often feel on a daily basis, despite my growing efforts to reach out and meet new people with whom I can meaningfully connect (which is a struggle and a whole other post of its own).
Plus, fourth, the leaving highlights just how far away from family we are and how much that sucks. We’re coming up on second baby’s birthing time, and I’ve had to arrange a phone tree of sorts of local friends who can keep my son alive while we wait for family to hop on a plane and get here once I go into labor. I suppose it’s time to find some babysitters in the area we can call and *gulp* actually pay to watch my spawn from time to time, but that’s just not the same as having grandma and grandpa just across town.
Not long after Bamma and Pa-pa left, I looked at the forecast on my phone. Readers, fellow Psychos, you all know how much the weather affects my mood. The last two days have been mercifully sunny and delightfully warmish for this time of year in the Pacific Northwest, and I did my best to enjoy them. We got outside and went to parks, synthesized some vitamin D and some sanity. Well, wouldn’t you know it, in a few short hours the skies are going to open up again with a series of storms with no end in sight, says my irrational sad brain. Ah, symbolism. You stormy bitch.
So, visits are hard. They are fun and exciting and something to break up the often horribly mind-numbing sameness of my days…but once they are over, the sameness I return to seems to become even more mind-numbing.
Psychobabble 