A friend of mine emailed me the other day. She’s pregnant, her job is going haywire, her husband is in full-time school, and just that day, her son figured out how to climb out of his crib . . . and forgot how to sleep.
Yeah. One of those times.
And I was her about 5 years ago when my son (then 2-years-old) climbed out of his crib and promptly refused his nap, bedtime, and every other structure we had in place at the time. Did I mention that I work from home? And the only time I had to work was during nap time. Um. Problem.
So I identify with my friend. I emailed her back giving her a few hints, ideas, and thoughts. And she’s been on my mind ever since. I dropped her a line a few days later wondering if there’s something I can do to help—bring a meal, babysit, conjure sanity from thin air.
I hope she takes me up on it. I’d be happy to help, and she could use the Mommy back-up.
But I’m afraid she won’t. Because let’s face it.
When I was there I didn’t want to ask for help. It felt too, well, needy.
In fact I didn’t want to take help or in any way look like I couldn’t handle it. I should be able to do it on my own. Right? Right?! I can still see my hands shaking from too much caffeine and not enough sleep. I was so tired, I literally walked into walls.
While I’m not walking into walls these days, I am overwhelmed. Partly because I stupidly said yes to too many things. And partly because my oldest is entering teenhood, trying to figure out life, and she needs her mom (and I refuse to be anywhere else).
I hope I learned something in the last 5 years–learned to ask for help and receive it when someone offers. I know I’ve shuffled my kids to friend’s houses, ordered pizza, and broken down and let them have more screen time than I’d like. It’s what I need to do for right now. And that’s okay.
I love this, because it’s so hard to ask for help. At different times we all desperately need it! Sometimes the most precious gifts of friendship for me are just being there, showing up.
Being present is SO important. I think that’s half the battle–checking in with friends consistently or anyone you know might be struggling. It takes space to do that though. My mom-in-law talks about the afternoon coffee breaks she always had with the neighbor ladies. It sounds amazing, but would I be willing and available to do it? We do a weekly study, but even that feels like a lot sometimes.