Let’s talk about exhaustion.
Not the kind that occurs when you’ve gotten into a book and just couldn’t put it down, so you only got 5 hours of sleep before heading off to work. Not even the kind that happens when your kid was sick all weekend and you’ve barely managed 4 hours of solid sleep before Monday makes an appearance.
Instead, we’re discussing the sort of exhaustion that builds up over time. This bone tiredness is an accumulation of years of parenting. It began when that lovely little infant first made her/his appearance and magnified steadily over the years. Even if you were lucky enough to get a full night’s sleep (more than 7 hours) here or there throughout your parenting life, it did not manage to push away the overpowering exhaustion. Trying to rest up is like digging in sand. And no one really seems to talk about this epidemic very much. We feel as if we haven’t slept in 17 years and we know we can’t possibly be struggling alone!
We beseech well rested parents to tell us their sleep secrets. Do we really just continue to hold on by our fingernails until our kids leave home? Are you taking vacations without your kids in tow? If you feel rested, refreshed, and energized – how are you achieving this feat? And if you are as tired as we are now, know that you are not alone.
We have lived with under eye circles for so long now that we can’t remember what we looked like without the deep blue rings. We have distant glorious memories of drowsy morning sex and then falling back to sleep for a few hours. We think we remember naps. And we’re pretty sure that we’ve slept passed 7am at some point in our lives.
We love our kids but we’re damn tired of being tired.