afterthought

have you ever felt like you're just an afterthought?

lately, i've felt as if i'm invisible. i feel used and abused. i hate it. i'm fighting the feeling. i have been for awhile. i love being at home. i love watching asher grow and learn and i truly wouldn't want it any other way. i say that with all sincerity and honesty. but lately, i don't feel like a wife or a friend or a sister or daughter. sometimes i don't even feel like mama. i feel like a rug. i nurse and change and feed and change and dress and clean up puke and pee and poop off the floor. i change and wash and do dishes and make dinner and clean up the dishes and do more cleaning and do the laundry and change...then i nurse my son to sleep and breathe a sigh of relief for 15 minutes before i clean and fold and stuff diapers and organize...the list goes on and on.

i was telling steve the other day how i'm feeling more like his roommate than wife. and i know this is a phase. i know things will settle down, but yesterday and today, i've had enough. i'm empty. i feel like i can't take take another minute....but then asher looks at me and smiles or zerberts or kisses me or i hear him laugh in the other room.

a part of me wants to hire a maid. is that horrible of me? we would never be able to afford it, but that's what i want. it's not taking care of asher that's draining me, it everything else. it's knowing if i don't do all the crap i don't want to do tonight, it will double tomorrow. let alone knowing that company will arrive at 9:30am and if i don't pick up, the house will look like crap. maybe i just need an attitude adjustment right now. i haven't had a day away in months. not even a 3 hour break. i'm going shopping tomorrow...not that i need anything or can afford anything, nor do i even really want to shop, but i have to get out of this house. maybe it's just winter and the fact that it's so much harder to get outside. i don't know.

whatever the reason, tonight i just feel like crying. i feel like a good cry would feel wonderful. steve's leaving for some party, so when he leaves, i'm going to stuff my face with brownies and wine and then crawl into a steaming hot shower and cry.

i don't like feeling like this. i feel like a complainer. like i don't feel blessed for what i've been given in life. i do feel blessed. i'm just wasted. emotionally, physically. i'm mrs. cranky mc'crankers and i hate it. i'm a snarky lil'crabgrumpkins and i need to snap out of it. how do i let it all go? i'm usually so easy going, but right now, not so much. what's going on with me? being a mama is so hard.

Comments

Wine and brownies sound perfect. You certainly need a day out! I think alot of it has to do with it being winter and feeling closed up in the house. I know I'm feeling stir crazy among other things. (hugs)
Katie said…
You just described EXACTLY what I've been feeling. And pretty much the same convo I had with Mark this week.
Unfortunately, that means I don't have answers for you - but I do have empathy. Big, deep, wide empathy.
Hang in there, chica. I think you're doing great!!
Anonymous said…
remember all of those times you would come visit and there would be tension between chuck and me? this is exactly why. i think it's common for the mama of little ones to feel like a maid and a roommate.
it sucks...but at least there are some perks :)
Wendy said…
I feel that way many times!!! I do the exact same thing you do --- cry in a hot shower!!

Joel and I had that same conversation two weekends ago. So go enjoy yourself tomorrow.. get out and get refreshed. Drink a great drink, eat some yummy dessert, splurge and buy yourself something that you normally wouldn't -- even it if it's not that expensive. All momma's need a break -- especially in the dreary Michigan winter!
Phoenix Rising said…
girlfriends,

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I was feeling so alone. As if I was just a selfish, bitter woman. It means so much to me that others feel this same way at times. I talked to my mom today and she told me there were many times she felt the same way too. I guess it just comes with the territory. But, seriously, thank you all. I almost didn't post this note because I felt like a complainer. I'm glad I did.

You are all wonderful friends and mamas.
ShannaKay said…
i'm feelin ya! i've wanted to hire a maid many times...someone to do laundry :) i hate to do laundry. definitely cry it out...call me and we can cry together :) :) journal if you want...write down the good stuff life brings to you and when you feel down and out you can go back and read it and get up lifted :) write out how you felt when Asher did so n so. know that we all love you and are there with you :) miss you and hugs!
Tali said…
kim you're always so honest in your postings and it's nice when someone else says it too! i have a wonderful babysitter if you're ever interested in a night out. she's 23 and an education major at MSU. luci loves her so much and so do we. let me know if you want her number!
Anonymous said…
Kim, I stumbled upon your blog from a friend's blog, and I was touched by your post. I do not have children yet, but I hear what you are saying, because others have told me that this can happen when moms stay at home a lot. It is not that you do not love your family, but every human being is so complex and have so many facets, that simply focusing on one (being a mother) will sometimes feel lonely and secluded. But you can change that, I heard from others, by making sure that you find somethings outside of motherhood that you can occasionally yet consistently enjoy--some women take dance lessons, or some other kind of classes, join groups or some kind of hobby clubs (maybe through the church) that give them the possibility to leave the children in the care of the husband or a trusted person and have that time away that is necessary to rest, recharge, cultivate other aspects of your life. Hang in there and know that, in fact, you are never alone when God is at your side and it looks like you have some great friends--and enjoy some time away.

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