Feeling Frazzled

Does this happen to you?

Something happens.  Or a lot of things happen.  You get thrown off track.  Become irritated.  Short tempered.  And just like that, your day goes from good to bad, and you don't know how to fix it.

A real life example:

Didn't sleep well the night before.
Resulted in waking up when the baby woke up that morning (and I forgot to set an alarm).  (Meaning no quiet time to myself to start the day.)
Fed the baby right after waking up.  (Which means making waffles got delayed.)
Made waffles.
Changed diapers.
Put the baby down for a nap.
Two year old refused to eat eggs with breakfast.  She wanted only waffles.
I finally got to eat breakfast an hour and a half after I woke up.

And in the midst of all of this, the three ounces of breastmilk I pumped that morning while feeding the baby was accidentally spilled by the two year old, leaving less than half an ounce to stash in the freezer. 

(Whoever said to not cry over spilled milk wasn't talking about breastmilk.)

That last one is what really did me in.  I was in a bad mood before being awake for two full hours.  Meh.

How do you "reset" your day?  These three things usually help me get out of the funk:

Taking a nap.  Because lack of sleep really affects me mentally and emotionally.

Taking a shower.  Because being a busy mother, I probably need one anyways.

Eating something.  Because sometimes you're hangry.  Especially if you're breastfeeding or pregnant because that means you're probably already hungry to begin with.

Getting outside.  It's amazing what a little fresh air and sunshine will do for your disposition.

Some other (though sometimes not quite so helpful) things are:

Finding a bit of quiet time with some coffee.  Which usually means I put something on the tv to entertain the kids.

Baking something.  By myself.

Getting out of the house.  By myself.  This hardly ever happens.

Basically, doing something by myself helps me recharge.  Because I'm an introvert.  And spending nearly every hour of the day by myself with cute little ones who are always needing something is exhausting.  I don't get much time where I'm completely alone.

And it's not just the littles who need my attention.  The laundry, the dishes, the cooking, the dirt on the floor, the clutter on the counter, the extra things I want to do around the house but struggle to find the time for them, they're all vying for my attention too.  There are only so many hours in the day and so much multitasking I can do before I am stretched to my limit and can't accomplish anything else.

I know stay at home mothers aren't the only ones who deal with this.  We're all trying to do things, maybe too many things, and we end up frazzled, stretched thin, like butter scraped over too much bread (name that movie!).

I don't have a one size fits all fix for getting your day back on track.  Different things work for different people.  And there are days, like the one described above, where I never feel on track again (even after getting to take a short nap), and end up going to bed feeling crabby, emotional, and worn out.  But that's ok.  Life is imperfect and messy.  We won't always have good days.  But we can always try again.

I recently wrote "chocolate for Laura" on the grocery list and Noah came home with a huge bag of Hershey kisses for me.  Best husband ever!