Exhaustion

For some reason, I used to believe that once a child was out of the newborn stage, the days of exhaustion would be over.

Boy was I wrong!

I may no longer be up all night due to a hungry newborn

 

or a toddler that refuses to go to sleep.

 

No… these days, I sleep just fine

because I am so exhausted from the constant run-around

that occurs day in and day out

as a mother of three active children.

 

To sit at home for more than an hour stretch

would somedays

simply be a miracle.

And miracles, if you have forgotten, are rare

which makes them a perfect metaphor to my present reality.

 

I look back and laugh at my naivety

and long for those days when I could nap as they napped

and watch Peppa Pig, Maisy, or even Yo Gabba Gabba.

I wonder how differently I would treat those moments

if I only knew then

what I know now.

 

Life doesn’t slow down…

it speeds up

continually racing by

leaving those in it’s path

in a state of exhaustion

and always seeking that moment of respite…

to finally catch a breath

that is seemingly

forever out of reach.