This summer marked my first full year as a stay at home mom. As I am sure you all know, it has come with its fair share of ups and downs. My latest has been the “sick kids and exhausted mama” test. You can all relate, right? Lately, it has felt like if it’s not one thing, it’s another!
Just when I thought we were getting over it all, both kids got a cold and baby girl got her first double ear infection. Luckily, we caught it early and started meds for her right away but that didn’t stop the sleepless nights, fussing and fever. Fast forward a few days, of course, it was a weekend, everything seemed to be getting worse. Her fever had sky-rocketed, she was hardly eating and neither of us had gotten any sleep. I felt like I was losing my mind because nothing I did would help. Running on pretty much no sleep and trying to still be a good mama to our toddler didn’t help things either. Turns out, while her ear infections had cleared up, she now had a viral infection that presents with high fevers and a lovely rash and we just had to let it run its course.
The next few days would be more sleepless nights because, of course, she just wanted to be with mama. At this point, I was running on fumes. Both my mom and grandparents have always offered to help me when I need it but sometimes asking for help can also feel like failing. I just kept thinking that I only had to make it until lunch when my husband got home and I would get a break or that the workday was almost over so he would be home soon. All true, but sometimes you just need that extra help in between. Today was one of those days.
Hinley and I got about two hours of restless sleep last night and I knew that I couldn’t make it through the day by myself so I finally cashed in one of those offers and went to spend the day with my grandparents so they could help me. Boy, did I need it! I am not lying when I say that I felt like I was in sleep-deprived heaven. We went around noon, after another doctor’s appointment, and my grandparents had made my favorite lunch. After we were all fed, they offered to watch Jagger so Hinley and I could get a nap in. I use the word “nap” loosely because they let us sleep for over three hours. In case you missed that, they let us sleep for over THREE HOURS all while taking care of my toddler, so we weren’t interrupted.
The moral of the story is that today I learned a very important lesson. Asking for help does absolutely NOT make you a failure, in fact, it is the complete opposite. I am not sure that I would have made it through the day without their help. Getting those few hours of sleep today made me a better mama, more attentive, more patient and more understanding. Don’t be afraid to get ask for help ladies because I promise, it can make all the difference.
