On a walk with a friend the other day, she laughingly and exasperatedly told me about her crazed morning with her (energetic, love-hungry) dog. She was sick, her dog responded by leaning heavily on her calves whenever she sat, she shooed him away, he wove himself between her legs, she got frustrated with him for repeatedly tripping her, he whined and clung even harder.
Oh hey, parents with toddlers? Sound familiar?
I’ve called this the downward spiral of doom, the insanity vortex, the crazy feedback loop. It seems whenever life gets topsy-turvy, or if I’m unwell, the toddlerliness becomes amplified. After 10 hours of the negative feedback loop, we’re both fried and exhausted.
You wish your toddler would realize that today, they need to play nicely by themselves because you’re dealing with X. Usually, the exact opposite happens wherein they become lump, destructive noodles and need you more than ever.
Of course, our job as parents is to rise above it and help our child cope with all the changes and the stress of whatever has been thrown at them. But, when you’re the one that’s not doing well (it’s tough to snap your fingers into a clean bill of health), what do you do?
No, seriously. What do you do?
You can tell me — is this when the Frozen binge fests happen? Or do you superhero mom it to the playground?
