Today, I needed a clone!  I needed another person to meet all the responsibilities on my list.  Yesterday, I knew that I needed to step back, breathe, and set my priorities.  I also realized that I needed to get some things or some people into the “box”.   Yesterday, I started getting a migraine at work.  It started after my lunch during my break time when I get shit done.  Well, yesterday when I couldn’t get answers and everyone else was too busy to see my email and voicemail I knew I was starting to stress.  I wasn’t sure how my day today was going to look or turn out and I was going to have to set something aside in order to get through the day.   So, because I couldn’t get my shit done within the time frame I preset and because the stress of the day was weighing on a decision to be made within 1-2 hours I got a migraine.   My first symptom?  Water spots,  I can’t see!  That’s my first symptom and silly me I always try to rub my eyes or the bridge of my nose to try to clear my vision, then I realize as it worsens that I can’t see and I have two classes to teach.

So, I stopped. I said okay, get the pain medicine and make coffee to treat the migraine. Then turn down the lights and sound in the class and try not to walk around too much.  I treated myself and sat down to get through the day.  We all had a rough day at work that day!  I’m not alone.

I thought it was excellent timing for me personally.  Our family has some very busy weeks ahead and we are most certainly burning the candle from both ends and the sides. The fatigue and exhaustion are real.  As a teacher, at the end of the school year we are all so tired from the regular days, then the testing days, then the special function days and don’t forget the meeting days.  Then, add my #autismom fatigue and stress onto the pile with the help your husband run an event photography business and see if I crash and burn.

How I’m still here somewhat sane, still on a mission to keep helping others, writing, and working?  I have some tips that help me.

1. Daydream
   1. I daydream about what I would do with a day off but my kids still have school.  I also use my fantasy about having a weekend alone with my husband.
2. Prioritize
   1. Who is most important?  That is what I have changed in my prioritizing practice.  It is no longer what’s the most important thing to accomplish but who is the most important person that needs my attention now.
3. Sleep
   1. Give it up to get shit done.  Then take it whenever you can, even 10 minutes!  I fall asleep on the couch with a kid laying over me watching a movie.
4. The “box”
   1. crazy people or crazy unexplained events go in the box.  All the little things that bombard us each day with distractions or try to engage in negative energy I think about it and I imagine myself picking it up with just two fingers and dropping it in the “box”.  I have a mental image of a large white box that holds all the crazies in it.  You don’t get to come out once I put you in there.  I visually make a place for the distractions to go so that I can FOCUS on the real important things.
5. Think about the oxygen mask
   1. Save yourself.  The rule is put your mask on first, then help others.  I can’t help others and continue to grow Ruthfulness without first putting on my oxygen mask.

Keep up your #momsohard!