Mother's Day, One Week Later

On the Friday before Mother's Day I was frazzled and weepy, feeling overwhelmed by the tremendous piles on my plate. In case you don't know, teachers are ridiculously busy at this time if year: planning class trips, grad ceremonies, working on report cards, coaching sports and/or academic events, and it all happens outside of school hours. Add the pressure of the very high expectations that parents put on teachers, together with the pressure that teachers (typically lifelong high achievers) put on themselves and you have a recipe for burnout!

Expressing these feelings of stress does not always come easily to me. In fact, I often don't even register how spread out I am until I reach the edge, when it all comes out (usually at my husband) in an incoherent mess of bitching and/or whining. That never really has the intended results, does it?

So Friday was the day where I finally recognized my exhaustion, my spread-too-thin-ness, the toll that being in constant demand from my job and family was taking on me. It's hard to say that! I really want to do it all, and do it well. I want to be an awesome: mom, teacher, wife, blogger, homemaker, community volunteer, fitness inspiration...but I can't be awesome at it all. I am only one woman after all.

Then on Sunday my five loves brought me breakfast in bed, and left me alone to eat it while I read. They reassembled to shower me with gifts made from tissue paper and Popsicle sticks, then left me on my own again to create a card for my own mother. 

I don't need a day at a spa to replenish the well from which I draw love and patience. A bit of time alone, to indulge in my greatest personal joys (reading, knitting, napping, chocolate, and coffee) is all I require now and then to put on my big girl boots and get out there and into it once again. A bit of yard work and meals outside also did much for my mood. The pedicure was *ahem* very relaxing.

In case you're wondering why I'm posting this a week after Mother's Day, I did jump right back into it. I belatedly send my love and admiration to all you mothers out there who, in spite of stress, exhaustion, tight budgets, and no time to yourself keep taking care of business. You're amazing!! I'm amazing!! We're amazing, aren't we?