February 16, 2012 - Let's Talk Stress

A friend of mine posted a question the other day to her Facebook page.

It read, "how does everyone deal with stress?" She and her husband have a daughter a little younger than mine, and I can only guess her daughter is starting down that path of independence. You know, the one my daughter is currently sprinting down at full speed than running back up it to kick me in the gut before sprinting back down it again.

Stress. STRESS. StReSs. s.t.r.e.s.s. !!!S-T-R-E-S-S!!!

No matter how you say it, we all hate it. These days it is my constant companion - not always in my face or kicking me when I'm down, but always around... somewhere... waiting. How to deal with it has been on my mind a lot lately. I never really thought the terrible twos could really be so terrible at times. Duh! That's why they're are called the TERRIBLE twos!

It goes without saying that I love my daughter, but there, I said it. She is worth every single ounce of stress life can pummel me with... and then some. But there's no doubt she is the one pummeling me many of the times. Almost everything with her these days is a constant battle. I know it will pass, she will grow out of the twos and threes, and I will one day actually miss these moments. But right now I feel like Georgia is an elephant sitting on my head, my husband is a rhino sitting on one shoulder and my job is a hippo sitting on the other. They're all squishing me, and I need to climb out from under the weight to breathe.

But how do we do that? That is my question these days, as I'm sure it is for many parents. My friend's question on Facebook received some interesting comments...

The very, very last thing I want to do is let the weight almost squash me until I explode out to get rid of it. That is not a moment I ever intend to let my daughter see. I saw it as a child, and it still weighs on my mind to this day. Not happening with MY girl! She IS my treasure.

We all must deal with stress in our life, whether it's new stress, old stress or just a lot of little stresses heaped up together on top of you. I know my path is no different from any of yours, I just have to find my own way to smooth out my path or at least dodge the potholes. Or maybe I can just make those animals sitting on top of me go on a diet. Time to quit bitching and figure it out, right?