Friday, January 07, 2011

Where's my Maternity Leave?

Posted by Mandy at 10:58 AM
One of my best friends and I were talking a few days ago and I told her how tired I am right now. Exhausted. Run down. I need to sleep for 15 hours straight-tired. She related.. she remembers those adrenaline-filled, constant going, days of fostering. Especially the first few weeks.

She made a remark that really struck a chord with me.

"When you have a new baby that's born from your body, everyone EXPECTS you to cocoon... to hide out.. to be relieved of your regular duties. But when you add two foster kids to your home, with only an hours notice.. it's like everyone expects you to just go on with life as usual."

YES. This is exactly what my problem is.

Not only does it seem that's how the general population feels... but it's a pressure I've placed upon myself. To keep my house just as clean as before. To spend as much one on one time with my kids as before.To keep up with church duties. To have supper on the table by 5:30... even though my husband is never home on time.. but that's an entirely different post - just like before. I can tell by the lack of a cape that I am not Supermom.. so why am I trying to immulate her?

1 comments:

Mom of 7 on Friday, 07 January, 2011 said...

I did forget to mention that when we got Zachariah, Hunter, and Amber, all within 2 weeks and our home was turned upside down, (haha) someone from the CALL (this is why they are awesome) asked me what they could do to help. They contacted someone at our church, and that person in turn had several meals lined up for us. When they brought the meals, the brought so much encouragement, one brought me flowers, someone prepared me 2 frozen meals, and one even rounded me up a bunch of clothes. Our church is huge, and I didn't know any of these people. But the generosity and encouragement of others helps so much. I tried to go strong for the first couple of weeks, and then I did just step back and cocoon, doing just the minimum until I could get my self back on track and adjusted. Don't put pressure on yourself to "do it all" right now...that time will come, but it IS o.k. to just say no for a couple of weeks too. You can still give your kids all the attention, and everyone may need more. But, you can also give yourself time to rest, grab a fast food or unhealthy meal, let the house get messy, and even that is o.k. too ;)

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