Turning Mom mode off for a while

 

We've been living in a constant high stress zone at our house for the last couple of weeks. Between a birthday, sewing Halloween costumes, unexpected tragic funerals, and school stuff, work stuff, and church stuff I was pushed to my limit. Mixed up in all the stress I was suffering from "always the mom syndrome." You may suffer from this yourself sometimes. It mostly happens to me when I'm not managing my stress very well. I become completely unable to turn off mom mode.

 

It starts simple, you might be at a store and maybe see someone with kids in line. Then while the adult is paying for their items you might play a little game of peek-a-boo with their baby. See easy stuff. It isn't too dangerous. But then you have a friend who needs help sewing a Halloween costume, again no big deal. But you realize by the end of the week you've started to talk to this adult like some of your sewing students and you keep saying stuff like "Or you can do that any way you want." (After giving super specific instructions like you give the 6 yr olds you teach to sew).

 

Then you might find yourself helping serve lunch for family after a funeral and bossing everyone around like you're in charge (when you clearly aren't). And from there you realize you've started to ask the bagger at the grocery store to do this in a super specific way. And you're asking your husband if he needs a kiss when he hurts himself.

 

Maybe you've never found yourself in this situation. Maybe you're completely able to turn off mom mode and don't ask your neighbors if they need to visit the bathroom before getting in the car. But I do. I get stuck in the place where I feel like I'm telling everyone want to do, and I'm making all the phone calls, and arranging things, and telling random kids at the playground to stop it, and you get the general idea. I was in need of a serious enforced mom break.

 

Luckily this past weekend I got one. Our Relief Society President had the most brilliant idea of a Relief Society Retreat. And her sister graciously allowed us to use her home.

 

See doesn't it look perfect?

 

 

A bunch of ladies from our ward got to run away for the night. We ate yummy food, and chatted, and laughed, and cried a little. I sat and listened and didn't tell anybody what to do. Even though we got very little sleep, I came home refreshed and feeling a little bit more like Liz and a little less like every one's mom. It was a blessing, a gift for my soul during this season of crazy. I love being a mom. It was all I really wanted to be when I grew up. I'm grateful for my kids everyday. I'm also grateful for those times when Dad is in charge and I get to just be Liz for a little while.