Daily Dose of Mama: Time Out

Friday, July 23, 2010

Time Out

Last night I gave myself a time out.

By yesterday afternoon, my attitude had deteriorated to a pretty low level, primarily because of my heartbreak at having to remove my sad, but resigned, baby from the awesome bubble juggler presentation. I was supposed to go out for a mom's night, but my heart just wasn't into it. My house was a mess, my head was a mess, my husband's travel plans to come home were a mess. I was crying for no reason.

So I gave myself a time out. Little Bug went to play with his prearranged babysitter, and I went home and did some cleaning while watching a little of a favorite Kdrama. I had a drink. I took some time to use some of my anxiety and depression tools I learned from the Midwest Center to break down why my mood was plummeting, which then allowed me to start making some modifications issue by issue. In the span of 2 hours, I was feeling a little better about things.

I'm still swearing in my head, and clearly I am blogging instead of doing my work right now, but I'm working on it and don't feel quite as overwhelmed as I have the last 4 days. Weeks like this creep up on lots of people, I think. Most just don't have blournals where they word vomit about it.

If only time outs worked as well on my toddler as they do on me......

7 comments:

KrisJuly 23, 2010 at 11:57 AM
Sounds like a time out was the right thing to do. I'm glad your feeling better about things - I hope they continue to look up. And if you ever need to chat, I'm here for you.
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sueJuly 23, 2010 at 3:08 PM
we all need a time out every now and then. i'm glad it worked out that you could take it when you needed it. sounds like we need another get together with wine - and maybe on a weekend so we can stay up later. i'm up for it, if you are!
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AnonymousJuly 23, 2010 at 5:23 PM
I'm glad a time out made you feel a little better. I sometimes have terrible weeks and have to take time outs also. You are definitely not alone. If you ever need a hand with anything please let me know. I'm close! I know it must be hard when your husband is traveling. I hope you have a nice weekend and that things continue to look up!
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Christine @ 12,450miles July 23, 2010 at 7:03 PM
Adult time outs are a very good thing. It sounds like it was a very rough week... and I'm glad you're feeling a little better about everything. Every so often I get to that "GUAGH" point myself and find that addressing the issue and then moving forward is extremely helpful! I hope things continue in this upward direction!
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ChristineJuly 24, 2010 at 11:55 AM
It sounds like you did the right thing for yourself (even though we missed you at Mom's Night) by taking a time-out and working through your feelings. I'm sorry you had such a bad week--thinking of you and hoping things look up next week!
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JoJoJuly 26, 2010 at 6:44 AM
I'm sorry you were feeling low, but sounds like you did the right thing. I'm telling you that knowing how to pull yourself out of that funk, is a huge skill and one you seemed to have mastered. Whether it's the bournal, k-drama, or the Bo-gardens.
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MinJuly 26, 2010 at 8:34 PM
I'm glad the time out helped. I think I may need to get your recipe for the perfect time out. I had that week just recently. Hopefully your deconstruction of the triggers will help keep them at bay.
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Thanks for your daily dose of you....

Everyday Mama

I'm a 32-year-old everyday mama. My husband (Appa) and I adopted our first son Little Bug (at 10 months old) from Korea in September 2008. We adopted our second son, Little Bro, from Korea in April 2011 at age 21 months. We adopted our third son,Little Moon, at age 3 in November 2013. I've wanted to be a mama for a long time, but I'm still trying to figure out the reality of it all and take time to enjoy the delicate beauty of the highs and the lows.

I worked full time as an editor, which I loved; but I made the bittersweet decision to stay home with my children after Little Bro came home. I'm now clumsily finding my footing in a new world of housekeeping, menu planning, budgeting, cooking, cleaning, and rainy-day activities, as well as navigating the world of IEPs, parent advocacy, and special needs education (spoiler: I suck at house work). My husband is hot and smart and quiet and loyal, and I think (know) my sons are the cutest, happiest little boys in the world.

I also struggle at times with mild depression, anxiety, post-adoption depression, my husband's constant absence due to his stressful and super time-consuming job, the challenges of helping my older son with his sometimes exhausting special needs, and our transition to a family of three little boys with just 19 and 14 months between them. I worry way too much about what people think of me, hate talking on the phone, and I am trying to trust myself more.

Oh yeah, I'm unable to give birth to children; love books, writing, traveling, and the color brown; hate to clean, cook, craft, or do laundry; allergic to pretty much everything but food (thank God); and think camping in anything but a tent is lame.

I needed somewhere to drop my daily mama thoughts and musings on toddler poop to avoid massive clutter and ramblings on our private family blog. Writing it down on paper is so '90s.

This is my everyday "blournal" as I navigate through my life as a first-time (or is it third-time now?) mama and long-time me. So....hi.

You can contact me at daily.dose.of.mama (at) gmail.com.

THE CONTENT OF THIS BLOG IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED.

As an editor, I deal with people on a regular basis who think images or content on the internet (whether it does or does not have a copyright designation) are "fair use." Your lesson for the day is that anything someone writes or creates that is published on the internet is copyright protected, whether he or she spells it out or not. Although I doubt anyone wants to steal my riveting posts on toddler poop, it doesn't hurt to educate the world about the wonderful magic of online copyright law.