We made it through most of winter relatively healthy, and then bam.. Just like that, my daughter and I were sick for nearly two weeks! I am not gonna lie, it was was a rough few weeks. There was a whole lot of tissues, coughing, fevers, sore throats, medicine, Dr’s visits. And as us mom’s know, we rarely get a break, even when we are the one’s who are sick. My oldest son still had to get ready for school, and lunches needed to be made. Homework had to get done and dinner had to be cooked. My younger son still had to be dropped off and picked up from preschool and my daughter still had to be played with and rocked. Life doesn’t stop when mom’s sick. We just push through. But one day a few weeks ago, my body wasn’t giving me any other choice. It was shutting down whether I liked it or not. So, I declared a TV day. And by TV day.. Friends, I mean after barely getting my oldest son out the door and onto the bus, I turned on the tv and my daughter, my son and I sat and watched tv and movies all.day. The only breaks we took were for bathroom, food and naps. And you know what? I don’t feel the least bit guilty about it. My body had had enough, and there was no one there to help me. So the TV became the babysitter for the day.. And guess what? We all made it through and no one was hurt. (Now before I upset some of you, I am not in any way condoning using the TV as a babysitter all day on a daily basis. I have seen the research too..I am fully aware this is not a healthy option on a regular basis, nor would I want it to be, I am actually pretty strict about screen time myself.)
But what I am saying is, to the Momma out there, who is sick beyond words, I feel your pain. Or maybe there is a Mom out there whose child fell asleep in the target shopping cart or took the forbidden car ride home nap (right before nap time) and now you are left with two kids who refuse to nap and you have a deadline you need to make. I get it. You go into survival mode and figure out any way possible to get what you need to do, done. Or maybe today everyone is a crying mess and the only thing that gives a few minutes of sanity saving silence is a Disney movie. I understand. It’s time to stop beating ourselves up over every single decision we make. And even more importantly it’s time to stop pretending that ALL of us don’t have these types of days once in a while.
Our mind set so often is.. If the TV is on longer that X amount (I have found this differs for many) each day.. Shame on us, we must be neglectful parents. If the laundry isn’t all clean, folded and put away, or the sink has last nights dinner dishes in them.. Well then clearly we are terrible at doing housework.. Or maybe worse, we are lazy! And what about those moments when everyone is in meltdown mode and you lose your patience and start to yell and meltdown yourself…Total failure of a mom, huh?
Nope. Not even a little bit. We are human. We are stretched too thin, and often expected to survive on very little sleep and the left overs of one of our kids lunch. We are on the go constantly whether we stay at home or work outside the home. We don’t get time off when we are sick and certainly don’t make enough time to pamper and rejuvenate ourselves. We give our heart and soul to our little ones and do just about anything to make them feel loved and cherished. We are mom’s. And we are good at what we do (even when are failing miserably), because we don’t give up. Declaring a TV day, or having peanut butter and Jelly with a side of chips for lunch doesn’t mean we have given up. It’s means we are human. It means we too get tired and we can’t always be planning the next best craft and we can’t always serve a perfectly nutritious lunch. Tomorrow might be a clean house, chuck full of fruits and veggies for snacks and perfectly cooked salmon for dinner kind of day.. And the next day might be a no laundry got done and a chicken nugget kind of night. But what we have to remember is balance. It’s okay not to be “on” every second of every day. It’s okay to once in a while take a step back and say..”I need a 20 min break and the only way I am going to get that is with Paw Patrol.” We have to stop feeling so guilty about doing what works best (and sometimes easiest) in the moment. We have to stop beating ourselves up over our imperfections and instead build ourselves up with our successes. Because I would be willing to bet, if you really concentrated on the things you did right today.. It would far our weigh the things you did wrong. We just need to learn to shift our focus.
So to the mom who declared a TV day… I just want to say, I am here right with you. You are not alone. I want to keep it real and let you know, that even though today has been rough.. You’re still a great mom. Today didn’t define you and I pray tomorrow is easier.
The sometimes TV Day is THE BEST medicine for a momma. We have TV/computer 30 minutes every morning that I don’t get a shower before Daddy leaves. You do what you have to do. Or, you stink. I really LOVE the new page! Beautiful and so personal. I’m going to check out your Etsy shop.
We definitely had a TV day this past week. One of the kids was sick with the flu and the others were sick of being stuck at home. And it was cold and rainy out. So, TV it was.
we have had a tummy bug going around and one child had a seriously messy episode of diarrhea this morning. by the time I was done cleaning it I was done!
This was a rough winter for us and we definitely had our share of tv days. On the whole, my daughter and I play and read and craft together. I am not too worried about a little bit of cartoons.