Finding post-it notes all over yourself or a wall or a chair
Listening to a recording of elephant noises on youtube over and over
Saying “uh oh” every time someone sees snow out the window
Making “elephant noises” every time someone raises one arm up over their head
Avoiding using the word “banana” in conversation
Walking around dragging a power cord
Sleeping with a toothbrush or bath squirt bottle instead of a stuffed animal
Arguments over whether chalk or crayons are food
Stopping a conversations mid sentence to run outside and yell at turkeys
Happy Thanksgiving from our weird little family to yours!
I’m not sure I can fully express the burnout that we’re feeling. And I know it’s not just us - when I get together with other parents now, all we talk about is how hopeless we feel, how exhausted, how angry, how done we are. How we can’t possibly keep going another day, but we have no end in sight. We’re all struggling so much, but also dealing with a ton of guilt, because we feel like we can’t complain, because we chose to have these children. We even hoped and prayed for them.
I’m not sure any of us expected life to be like this though. A never ending pandemic where no one cares about keeping kids safe. Work that expects you to devote all your free time to working as if you don’t have kids, and barely pays you enough to combat inflation or pay for daycare. Daycare where we have to send our children so we can work, but they’re all so understaffed and burnt out themselves dealing with this pandemic, they have to keep shutting down.