Once I had both girls down for their naps I walked down to the chaos. The hallway was littered - car seats, coats, blankets, sleeping bags... and someone had emptied the contents of my changing bag. Wonder who that could've been.
The kitchen was no better. Dirty dishes where we had rushed down out lunch. A jar of Branston Pickle sitting on the side, still open. A full dishwasher of clean dishes that I hadn't unpacked yet. A pile of washing that I had brought in, but failed to put away.
I sat down and stared for a moment. And just felt overwhelmed. Silly, I know. Its really no biggie. There are much bigger things that people contend with... there are much bigger things in my own life that I'm having to cope with. And yet, at that moment in time, this mess, this chaos, this lack of routine was the thing that was nearly pushing me over the edge.
What do you do when you hit those hotspots? How do you handle them? I did the only thing that I know to do when I feel like that... the only thing that calms my soul and stops my heart doing this weird fast beat stressed out thing. I prayed.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God, with thanksgiving, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"
God promises his peace if we give our anxieties to him. That doesn't just work in a hospital bay when your daughter's fighting a devastating disease like Kawasakis... it works when your feeling overwhelmed by a bit of housework, when you feel like a failure of a mother, when your Branston Pickle jar is still lying out. He cares about the big stuff, and he cares about the little stuff.
So give it to Him, and then get up and get to it...
How do you handle your hotspots?
Unfortunately That's part of motherhood and running a household. Wow yes we need that routine and wow if wee one has been up all night teething (Dominic was up for three nights when Oscar had just started school) it really messes up your day. What's worse is if we have that mixed in with Patrick not being very well with his MS or boys ill. Your trying to deal with a crying hungry baby but then Patrick collapses as he gets out of bed, Oscar wakes up and needs to get ready for school etc. Not even thought of the housework yet or going to work or having a shower and getting ready. What do I do? To be honest I don't really know! I sure have my moments but then realise how lucky I am to have my wee family. Hope your ok. X
ReplyDeleteOr what sometimes gets to me is when we not having such a good day, and on top of everything else I see the grass needs cut in front an back garden and weeding to be done, shed to be painted etc worse when I have asked some people to paint shed for me and let me down. What do I do? Take few deep breaths and get going? I don't know. Hope girls are ok! X
ReplyDeleteErm...freak out usually when the kids are in bed! This is something I'm working on but I so easily become overwhelmed with the amount of stuff we have going on around us. It started when we had to stay in hospital with Meg's leg and we've just been playing catch up ever since. Not successfully I might add. I'm trying to adopt a sense of 'it doesn't matter' and 'mess is inevitable'...sounds like I might be able to learn a thing or two from you :)
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