Five Minute Friday: Rest

You know when your child turns into a he-devil (or a she-devil) and loses all memory of reasonable behavior and it’s all because he (or she) needs rest? You know it, you can tell when he’s getting to that point long before he arrives. Then you ask him to go lay down and rest. And he turns into a pigeon*

because he’s so tired he’s lost all memory of reasonable behavior.

 

Did you know it happens to us mamas, too? We get up early, make breakfast, pack lunches, get the kiddos off to school (or start our school day at home), do laundry, wash the dishes, the bathrooms, the floors. Or go to work and do all that later. We pick them up from school, go to baseball practice, piano lessons, whatever else needs to be done. We cook dinner, clean the dishes, help with homework, get the kiddos in bed. And somewhere in there, we write and craft and sew and…  Only by the time evening rolls around, we’re so tired we’re losing our memory of reasonable behavior. And the kids see it coming, and shy away from us, because we’re a whirlwind she-devil of

If it’s not “I’m not tired”, it’s “I don’t have time to be tired!”

 

And we push on because we think we have to.

 

I’m telling you mamas now: REST. It’s okay. Take a few minutes when you need it. Before you need it. If you have a few minutes for a breather, take it. Even if you have to lock yourself into the bathroom. You won’t turn into a pigeon and your family will thank you for it.

 

Rest. It’s necessary. It doesn’t make you a failure.

 

*Picture taken from our copy of Mo Willem’s Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. This is actually our second copy because the first was so well-loved it fell apart. I highly recommend this book!

{linking up with the fabulous Lisa-Jo and Five MInute Friday, where we write for five minutes without worrying if it’s just right. Join us?}