I thought sleep deprivation was the worst part of parenting. Well, that was when I had an infant–I know I will be experiencing that again very soon. Now that I have an extremely active two-year-old, my thoughts have changed. I really thought this whole parenting thing would get…um…I hesitate to say easier as I certainly have never put parenting and easy together in any context other than “parenting certainly makes have a drink easier to explain.” I really thought that it would get less exhausting really. I was exhausted to a point when Minnow was a baby that I could barely see straight…now I am so exhausted I can barely keep up with him. Minnow does not stop. The first thing in the morning he wants to do is to go outside and play. He loves to be outside and once he is outside it is nearly impossible to get to him to go inside. Every outing to a park or someplace fun to play lasts a minimum of 2 1/2 hours. That is at least 150 minutes of non-stop moving and walking and playing and swing pushing. I love that he is so active, as I could stand to sit around less on my ass, but I am exhausted.
I was hoping to be a little recharged this weekend as we dropped Minnow off at my dad and bonus mom’s house on Saturday afternoon for a sleepover. Hubby and I had an awesome evening of eating out–appetizers and drinks at a rooftop restaurant with a view of the skyline and dinner at an English pub–chips and rarebit–yummy. Then we went to the movies at the most awesome theater ever–you get to sit on couches and they have a full bar. We got to sleep in and go out to breakfast and actually have a conversation that lasted more than 2 mintues. We then planted some flowers and it was awesome. I felt great and was ready…then hubby went to play golf and Minnow was outside. OUTSIDE. OUTSIDE. That meant a tantrum was coming as it was close to naptime. He didn’t want to sleep as he wanted to be OUTSIDE. He finally slept after we read 5 books. Then he woke up a couple of hours later and wanted to go OUTSIDE. It was beautiful and I can’t fault him for wanting to go outside really–what kid wants to stay inside. So we went outside–blew bubbles, played on the swing-I do the pushing…went down the slide, and then for a walk. Minnow is a pretty good walker–he pushed his bubble mower nearly a mile–7 1/2 blocks and I only had to carry him for on block and the mower for 2 blocks. By this time it was time for dinner and I was exhausted all over again as I had just spend 3 hours OUTSIDE in the sun.
Don’t get me wrong I love being with Minnow and I love how much he enjoys chasing bunnies and picking up rocks and those damn seed pods from maple trees that I have to spend 20 minutes throwing up in the air so he can watch them “helicopter” to the ground. But I am exhausted and I really have the feeling that it is only going to get more exhausting.
How do you fend off the power of exhaustion?
Embracing Imperfection 