Tag Archives: tired

Are You Feeling Exhausted?

Do you ever have days or nights when you feel absolutely and completely physically and mentally exhausted? If you do, do you wonder how a person so small could cause an adult to become so exhausted? You are not alone. At least one other person (me) experiences this, from time to time. As much as it may seem that the nature of toddlers themselves is the reason that parents can become physically and mentally exhausted, that is just part of the larger picture. It does take a lot of energy to play with toddlers, keep them fed and safe, and … Continue reading →

Visitors = No Naps?

Does your baby’s nap schedule change when you have visitors? I’m not talking about the inevitable excitement that your baby experiences when new faces are in the house. A baby is bound to be a little more wound up and restless than normal when new people are around. I’m talking about purposely changing a baby’s nap routine so that the baby is awake as much as possible when the guests are over. When our baby was little, she slept just as well, if not better, in someone’s arms as she did in her crib. Having visitors over made almost no … Continue reading →

Excuses for Not Exercising: #2 I Am Just Too Tired

“I am just too tired to exercise” is something that I can really relate to, but then I have to remind myself that I will actually have more energy in the end. A typical day in the average American woman’s life: Crawl out of bed and attempt to put yourself together to look presentable for the day. Get the kids up, dressed, fed, organized for their day and try to manage to not get dirty or sweaty yourself in the process (this is extremely tough).Shuffle the kids to school or day care. Go to work and deal with unreasonable and … Continue reading →

What if You ALWAYS Feel Tired?

It is fairly common for the average single parent—especially those who have full time custody of their child or children—to feel tired. After all, it can seem like the day and all of its responsibilities are never done. We may work too hard, eat on the run, and never get a full night’s sleep. Feeling tired can seem normal. However, if you are feeling so overwhelmingly tired that you just can’t get any energy going, or if you are constantly sleepy, achy or distracted, it might be worth it to look into your exhaustion. While tiredness is typical for the … Continue reading →

Consider Sleep Deprivation with Behavior Issues

I do not mean to imply that all naughty behavior is due to lack of sleep, but I definitely think that sleep issues and behavior problems go hand-in-hand. As first time parents, many of us learned how quickly our judgment and basic function skills could be affected by lack of sleep but it can be one of those realities we overlook when looking at reasons for our children’s behavior. I think many people assume that if a child is sleep deprived, he or she will be sleepy or tired or lethargic. In fact, many sleep deprived kids may be just … Continue reading →

Everything is Harder when You’re Sick

Recently, I was standing in a crowd in public and a young mother with two children—a baby and a preschooler came trundling along. She was frustrated and losing patience as the preschooler whined and fussed and grumbled and she was just trying to get where she needed to go. She offered the child a drink and when he refused, she threatened to throw away the beverage which caused him to begin screaming and crying in earnest: “Well, drink it then and quit messing around!” she barked. More crying. While most of us were bracing ourselves for the high decibel temper … Continue reading →

It Doesn’t Help when People Tell You how Tired You Look

Like most of you single parents, I try to keep it together; I really don’t want to live an exhausted life of constant chaos so I do try to eat right, get enough rest, balance my life, etc. Unfortunately, there just seem to be times when all of that isn’t possible. I do get overwhelmed and overextended and I am the first person to get crabby about it (I am NOT one of those people who love to be busy or thrive in crisis, quite the opposite.) It definitely does not help when others tell me how puffy my eyes … Continue reading →

Am I a Slacker if I Just Get Tired?

I confessed yesterday in my writing that I have a tendency to wrestle with that “should” voice—the one that haunts me with all those things I let myself think I should and could be doing. Last night, however, I started thinking about how I have a tendency to feel like I’m a slacker if I am not always working, parenting, keeping house, whatever. Since there is always something to do in my single parent world—when I get tired and worn out, it is hard for me NOT to feel like I am being a slacker… The reality for many single … Continue reading →

Getting Enough Sleep Should Be a Priority

Meeting the needs of children with medical problems or behavioral disorders can be exhausting. A child who must be checked and re-checked throughout the night, or one with sleep disturbances or night terrors can leave parents frustrated and overwhelmed. And if we’re not careful, we can become accustomed to getting very little rest and almost forget what a real night of recuperative sleep feels like. When we’re sleep-deprived, we’re more likely to feel like we’re incapable of handling everything we have to accomplish in a day. Problems seem so much bigger. We’re irritable without knowing exactly why. Sometimes sleep-deprivation makes … Continue reading →

Adoptive Parents Need Rest

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The adoption community uses a term that describes a brief rest from duty for adoptive parents. Respite is defined as a short time of relief from a difficult assignment. It is absolutely necessary for adoptive parents to occasionally be able to take it easy for a while. Our first respite weekend came as a surprise. As a Christmas present, our grown children arranged for us to have a Saturday night at the finest hotel in Galveston. They stayed with our crew and paid for a meal at a fine restaurant. It’s about a two hour drive down there from our … Continue reading →