Little Things, Big Overwhelm

Do you ever get tasks or things that need done that come up that you don’t want to do? Or that are “small” enough that you go, “Oh, I’ll do that later because it won’t take long, I don’t have time to do it right now…” And then all the sudden you have these mountain of little tasks that are taking up room in your head, because you know you need to get them done, or are on your countertop and in your way because, well, where else does that stuff go so that you don’t forget to do them? And then you’re so overwhelmed by the little mountain you’ve made that you decide for days on end to keep ignoring it because you don’t want to do it?

Yeah, me too.

I finally hit my threshold the other day with my little mountain of tasks I had been putting off. They were making me absolutely NUTS because they were taking up physical space in several different places and causing inconvenience where they were at - I kept having to work around them and that usually is enough to tick me off right there that I’m pretty good about not letting stuff like this pile up to begin with - but even more annoying than that was the real estate that they were taking up in my head because I KNEW that I needed to get them done.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but there isn’t a lot of extra space in my head for stuff like that to occupy before it starts crowding out the way more important stuff.

I have a hard time remembering anything anyway…my husband thinks I’m crazy (and he’s probably not completely wrong) when I tell him that with every child I have had, they have taken more of my brain out with them upon delivery.

That happen to y’all too, or just me?

Anyway, I hit the breaking point the other day.

🤯💥🤯💥🤯💥

That’s it! I’ve had it! Get this sh*t taken care of and the hell outta here!

And I kinda lost my marbles and turned into even more of a nut job for a little while 😬

I cleaned up the vacuum cleaner that I had slugged with baking soda when we had water in our basement back in NOVEMBER and got it out of my already tiny ass laundry room and put it away. Now, it can both function again, and it’s not a springboard for my younger two children to climb INTO my damn washing machine every time my back is turned. 😏 It took a grand total of 15 minutes to do and I had put off doing it for well over 6 weeks.

I had several phone calls I needed to make to schedule appointments…the chiropractor, an estimate for guttering so the above mentioned water in the basement ordeal can quit happening, bills that needed paid and filed, just the little stuff like that someone has to do but no one really wants to do…it cleared up the end of my counter to where I wasn’t having to move and shuffle papers at every meal time so that they either didn’t get dirty or so I had enough room to set a dadgum plate down and fill it to feed somebody. And again, it took about 15 minutes to do.

Probably the biggest, little task I finally accomplished was switching out clothes sizes for our youngest son. That poor kid…he’s needed to be in 2T clothes since his birthday. In NOVEMBER. And here it is, the end of JANUARY, and his mom FINALLY got her sh*t together and got it done. That one took more than 15 minutes, but it didn’t take 2 hours either.

I will go on printed record and admit to the fact that I HATE SWITCHING OUT CLOTHES. It is hands down, without a doubt, my least favorite, most abhorred household task that I have to do. I’d rather unclog a toilet, clean up vomit, you get the picture, I’d rather do ANYTHING else than do THAT.

I don’t know why.

Maybe subconsciously it’s my way of denying that said child is growing up before my very eyes and I can’t slow it down or stop it.

Maybe it’s because it’s a several day process because you know all of the too small clothes aren’t washed and put away to where you can immediately move them all to the tote and pack them out to the garage, unload and put away the new ones and just be done with it.

No.

You’ll find clothes of the size that they just got done with for WEEKS before they’re all put where they’re supposed to be.

And if you’re like me, you go to unpack the new ones and don’t remember from a previous child that you had so many and that’s overwhelming in and of itself, but you don’t want to have to store more than 1 box of clothes per size so you need to go through ALL of them and decide what you’re keeping and what you’re donating and what the previous child just wore out or stained so bad that it just needs thrown away…

Oh, my good Lord…

Welcome to your trip aboard the crazy train!

I’m convinced that every parent, but every mom especially, ought to actually take the time to write what runs through her head involving a series of small, seemingly unimportant or mundane tasks down, and then give it to her husband every once in awhile.

How much more empathetic do you think we would be towards one another if we could actually read the overwhelm that little things like that cause us?

And vice versa…

Dads and husbands, especially those of stay-at-home moms, we have NO CLUE the mental load you carry or the pressure you’re under being the sole providers and bread winners for your family.

And as spouses, we bottle those feelings of overwhelm and all that pressure up inside of ourselves instead of sharing it, because we want to protect and not burden the other.

But maybe, just every once in awhile, it would actually be beneficial to be a little bit vulnerable and let the other in to see and feel that. I think we’d all be a little less aggravated with one another if, through effective communication, we could have a glimpse of what the other goes through on a day-to-day basis.

Our daily responsibilities are huge as adults, especially those that are parents raising young and growing families.

That task alone is monumental and it’s a LONG time until you can consider it “done.” And even then, it’s not really done, your role in it just changes.

But consider this as a reminder, mostly from me, to me, but maybe to you, too - don’t let those little things pile up to the point of being so overwhelming that they feel like they’re suffocating you.

In the words of Nike…Just DO It!

You’ll likely have a lot more room and headspace for the bigger things that actually matter, rather than all the little things taking up a majority of the real estate inside your brain.

And just in case no one has told you lately…

I think you’re a good mom.

I think you’re a good dad.

And I know that what you do daily, even all the little things, is making a big difference in your household and in the life of your family.

For What It’s Worth.