It kind of goes without saying: Moms are TIRED.
I get it. I feel you. I've been tired for eight years. It's not a competition at all. Maybe you have a newborn who has their days and nights mixed up. Maybe you have twins. (Bless you!) Maybe your 7-year-old climbs into bed with you every night at 2 a.m. right as you enter REM sleep. Whatever it is, you and me, girl, we're bone tired. Me? I’m "eight years of pregnancies, babies, breastfeeding, non-sleeping toddlers, adding more babies" kind of tired. It's exhausting.
Honestly, there should be a special word for the tiredness that moms feel. Can the Webster people get on that? Is it too late to have a new word created in honor of us moms?
If I were rested, I would be missing everything I love.
I think if someone told me I could sleep for a week straight, I probably would. Someday, maybe I will. Really, even one uninterrupted night would do me wonders. But, for now, this is my life. I live a wonderfully, tired life. I drink coffee and I take naps when I can. I have the very best under-eye concealer. I stay up too late and regret it an hour after I finally go to bed and a little one calls for me. But during one of these middle-of-the-night sessions when I rock my kids to sleep again, I also realize that I'm thankful for this tiredness.
Tiredness makes me happy. Feeling tired makes me feel thankful.
Why? It’s because tiredness represents so much in my life that's good. If I were rested, I would be missing everything I love.
Being tired means my life is full. I'm juggling kids I adore. I'm juggling a home I love. I'm making meals and transporting kids to and fro all the live long day. I'm fitting in occasional dates with my husband. I’m bathing kids and trimming nails. I’m training for a 10K. I’m helping my sister plan her wedding. I’m spending night time hours soothing a baby who is cutting teeth. I’m teaching my son to read. I’m grocery shopping and buying birthday presents. I’m quelling sibling squabbles and coordinating play dates. I’m crawling into my big kids' bed after they fall asleep and praying over their hearts and their futures. I’m hustling in my side gig and I’m planning our extended family vacation to a national park next summer.
I’m so busy and so tired and so very happy. My tiredness is a result of wonderful things. And, if you think on it for a moment, I bet your tiredness is similar.
As we move into the season of acknowledging thankfulness, you can turn your woe is me motherhood grumps into a reason to celebrate. I'm thankful for tiredness and I know you are, too. Our tiredness is merely a symptom of a life well-lived. Embrace it! Sleep will come … someday.
