Throw Me A Life Raft!

Motherhood is hard, dudes. It is really, really hard.


Metaphorically speaking (of course), I often feel as though my life as a mother is a vast sea of chaos and adversity . . . and I am drowning in it. Okay, okay! Maybe not "drowning." (That does sound a bit dramatic.) More like, "treading water." I often feel as though I am treading water -- attempting to keep my head above the surface of second-grade math, diaper blow-outs, mundane responsibilities, autistic quirks, and fighting children. "Waves" of laundry constantly crash down on my head, "undertows" of trips to the grocery store try to pull me down to my watery grave. Then there is the steady frothing and churning of toys to be picked up, diapers to be changed, and peanut butter sandwiches to be made.  The sound of my vacuum cleaner might as well resemble the sound of the tide coming in!

In a very real (and very honest) moment, I vented on social media to friends and family about a particularly painful day. Motherhood had dropped me to my knees. It had mercilessly beaten me over the head with a mallet of inadequacy, doubt, and fear. It hurt. I was drowning.

And wouldn't you know it, upon reading my post the incredible people in my life gently cast love and support into the water -- proverbial "life rafts" to drift by me and save me.

It was Goethe who wrote: "The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers, and cities: but to know someone who thinks and feels with us, and who is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden."

We need each other. As women, as mothers who think and feel similarly, we have to take care of each other. We are the Coast Guard. We are the arm floaties -- like the bright pink pair I had as a child. We are the David Hasselhoffs in the red, lifeguard swim trunks! We save each other.

I wanted to say thank you then. For the camaraderie. For the compassion. So I took a picture using the puzzle pieces that were strewn about my living room floor, and posted it on Instagram:


But then I realized nothing truly, truly says "thank you" like a handwritten card. Using my super-cool PIXMA iP8720, I printed my picture. I made an actual thank you card out of it, my friends. And the end result is unbelievably cute!


So thank you for "buoying" me up in my "motherhood sea." Thank you for being there for me and for helping me to keep my head above water. Thank you for reminding me that though the water may be formidable at times, in actuality, it is magnanimously beautiful.     

 If you need me, I'll be writing thank you cards!

Comments

Popular Posts