The day started off well enough -- MB's ballet class, a quiet lunch at home with A, my mother-in-law, and both daughters, and a good basketball game on television (go Tarheels!).
And then came the meltdown: A's post-delivery blues, MB's frustration with potty training, and a household plumbing system that suddenly decided to back up and flood part of our den. Since I have to use every free minute to think, I used the time where I was steaming the carpet to think about the two-month vacation I've had, and fumed over that until I realized I had to call a plumber to fix a problem that I thought I should have been able to handle myself.
$400 later, I realized I couldn't take care of that myself -- and now while I'm typing this, I realize I can't do it all, nor should I try. Now if I could only learn to recognize these things while they're happening, rather than after emotions have run wild and tempers have flared.....
5 comments:
I totally understand your great frustration and feelings. You really cannot do it all, even though you are such an amazing father and husband. Prayers seem to be a last resort to us who struggle with daily problems, but they should really be our first resource for strength and hope. Years ago at a Christian conference at our church the British author and speaker Ian Thomas preached. A phrase he kept repeating throughout the conference stuck with me. Referring to us trying to do things in our own strength, Thomas suggested Christian pray to God, "I can't--You never said I could; but You can--You always said You would."
You, Amy, and your precious daughters are in my prayers.
As a father, I can relate to what you are saying. I find the times I am most short-tempered are when I'm feeling overwhelmed. When my wife asks me to do that "one more thing", it just puts me over the edge.
It's a difficult lesson for us to learn that we can't do it all. But, sometimes we just have to accept that. Yesterday, I took the day off. Didn't do anything "productive". I felt a twinge of guilt and my wife made a snide comment about it today. But, I needed that day and I'm glad I took it.
It's good to learn to recognize, in the moment, when you can't do it all and to accept it. It sounds like you're learning to that (as I am trying to do).
Peace,
Brian
Hindsight is 20/20 but we are all human - don't be too hard on yourself. Hang in there.
I hate those kind if days. Ditto what rdl said for me. I just wish life wasn't so hard some days.
Blessings, Bob
Oh, I can relate to your wife's post-delivery blues. I do suffer one.
That expensive?
Sometimes we think about things like this when they're presented in front of us and we are unable to find solutions to sometimes simple matters that have skipped us due to life's rush.
Be well.
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