I try to take a positive, encouraging tone when I write here in the Single Parents blog, but someone recently asked me if I wasn’t glossing over some of the realities and challenges of being a single parent. After all, for most of us, it is no walk in the park. I got to thinking that while exhaustion is not something that can be solely claimed by single parents, in my own experience, I never really, truly experienced utter exhaustion until after I became a solo parent…
I think it helps to know that nothing lasts forever–even the exhaustion! We eventually get rested again and times change–but at the time, it can feel so overwhelming, as if you could just sink down onto the floor. I know that I am not alone when I confess that there have been times when I have been so weary and tired that I COULDN’T get to sleep. Of course, these were also the times when I felt I needed to be “on” and stay focused. Exhaustion led to poor decision-making, short-temper and my not seeing things very clearly. But, what is a single parent to do?
So, we know it is tough. We know there will be times when we get so tired and overwhelmed we don’t know if we can face another day. But, we take a hot bath and get a decent-night’s sleep, or call in a friend to feed the kids and put them to bed while we get to bed early, and then the sun comes up on another day and we get up and face things all over again. We do get our perspective back and we do find some relief. Just knowing that those exhaustive times will surely come, and knowing that we can get through them too is the reality of a single parent’s life.
Also: Exhaustion Impares Clarity
Are Single Parents More Susceptible to Illness?