Some days aren't diamonds - Mouths of Mums

Some days the words don’t come, the water won’t boil and the traffic lights are all red.

These are the days when your coffee goes cold before you finish it. There are good things happening but you just can’t seem to appreciate them.

When all you can see are the bills and the work and you forget that there are things you love about what you do.

These are the days that the comfortable jeans suddenly seem too tight, or the tag in your favourite top start to dig into your neck. Usually those things haven’t change and it’s just that, for some weird reason, you just can’t get ‘on top’ today.

You wake up and see the day….showering, getting dressed, getting the kids dressed and fed. Dealing with life and all the chores. The floor needs vacuuming again. Surely I did that just the other day. Does it ever stop?

How can I do anything fabulous when there are so many things to do just to keep everything happening?

Cleaning, washing, bills, picking up after everyone, planning dinners, planning weekends, planning playdates and activities. Grocery shopping, dinner, dishes. Bother – I forgot about exercise! Don’t forget to fit in exercise!

Make sure you read with the kids, spend time playing at their level, be mindful, don’t forget they get too much technology time. Catch up with your friends and be there for your family. Be a good person, a good friend, a good wife and a good mother.

How do people find time to be anything else? Do you give up on being a good friend or a good mother? Maybe it is giving up on sleep that allows us to be all to everyone. That’s a problem for me; I don’t work well without sleep. These flat days usually follow a night where there was not much sleep.

When I don’t sleep I wake up feeling overwhelmed by life. My brain is too tired to function on the usual level and every single task becomes a hurdle to overcome.

The answer for me is to get moving, to just start something – anything – which engages me and cuts through that inertia. Filing is a great one for me (!?!) I get the music playing and I sort through the papers and put them into the correct files. I don’t make decisions, I don’t have to think, and slowly my big pile of papers becomes ordered. Tick. DONE!

Don’t try to be creative or charming on these days, using words on a day like today is a waste of effort. They come out jumbled or just as flat as your mood.

Some days it’s just wise to not be around people. It’s too hard to be nice when you feel like you aren’t coping. It’s hard to put on the social veneer that we all use and say ‘I’m fine’.

I wonder if we need these days to balance out the sunshine days…or if they are just my sub-conscious making sure I get our filing done.

When I have these days I remind myself that (so long as they don’t happen very often) then it’s OK to have a down day. Everyone has them, they just don’t put them on their Facebook page. It’s my bodies way of saying ‘look after me too.’

On these days you need to be kind to yourself, eat chocolate and drink wine, have a chat with a true friend, a good cry or maybe a soak in the bath. Do some chores and cross them off your list with a flourish and fanfare. Do something to make those happy hormones kick in…..shake it off….and let’s get through this!

And then tomorrow….is a brand new day.

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47 Comments

- - ChiWren said
  - 03 Oct 2024
    9:57 am
Really interesting how much I see discussion over too many lose papers and needing to file. Is this a common issue for most households? Is it less of a thing now because everything digital, and that’s why it sounds more foreign to me. It’s maybe a once a year issue for me. But I digress. It’s always good to try and see the brighter side

- - meedee said
  - 03 Jun 2022
    11:00 am
My Mum was a very positive woman and she taught me to always find the silver lining

- - ella12 said
  - 27 Sep 2016
    3:40 pm
Love your perspective, how very true.

- - june11 said
  - 07 Feb 2016
    8:04 pm
My pet hate is in fact clothing tags rubbing my skin. Those on my tops rub my neck and those in my knickers rub my skin too to the point that the back of my neck gets bright red quite quickly. If I remember I now remove them when I buy the clothes before they are washed.

- - mom160421 said
  - 08 Nov 2015
    12:55 pm
The older I get, the less I’m bothered by the small stuff. I’m just grateful when I can put my head on my pillow at the end of the day and know that I and my family and friends are all safe and well.

- - mom107723 said
  - 04 Nov 2015
    10:12 am
Yes there a hills we have to climb every day, but take it like that 1 day at a time.

- - JessyJade190490 said
  - 03 Nov 2015
    5:19 pm
There is always a tomorrow =) Thanks for sharing this article!! Definitely a good read and puts things in perspective!

- - mom94378 said
  - 02 Nov 2015
    7:33 pm
They do make you appreciate the good days tho.

- - Carolineb said
  - 01 Nov 2015
    5:59 pm
My husband says to me, on the days I have struggled or had a bad day, ‘tomorrow is a brand new day’.
- Lucas' Mum replied
  
  02 Nov 2015 , 9:53 am
  My husband says – you kept the kid alive and fed. He’s happy and there’s nothing else you need to do.
- - Toni Rowland said
  - 31 Oct 2015
    1:29 pm
I’ve been having a few too many of ‘those’ days lately. So hard to get out of a rutt.
- Lucas' Mum replied
  
  02 Nov 2015 , 9:51 am
  It’s tough when there are a few…..maybe change your morning routine, or start a morning mantra. For a while I started the day telling myself – Today I will feel relaxed…(you can be calm, relaxed, determined or anything.) Sometimes the littlest thing will make a difference. xx
- - Bela said
  - 31 Oct 2015
    10:23 am
You’ve definitely got the truth of it. My mantra is “This too shall pass”.

- - hopefullyheidi said
  - 25 Oct 2015
    11:24 am
I always say the same “tomorrow is a new day.”
- Lucas' Mum replied
  
  25 Oct 2015 , 8:45 pm
  That’s so simple and so good!
- - mom94125 said
  - 15 Oct 2015
    1:26 pm
yes it is easy to feel overwhelmed running around doing what we do

- - 4littlemunchkins said
  - 10 Oct 2015
    9:59 pm
Oh yes there are certainly plenty of those days.
- Lucas' Mum replied
  
  25 Oct 2015 , 8:46 pm
  With 4 little munchkins you must know about the unending list of chores!
- - jellybean01 said
  - 08 Oct 2015
    9:35 am
great article….can definitely relate.Thankyou for sharing

- - coastalkaryn said
  - 23 Sep 2015
    10:19 am
on those days, we just have to breathe – and find gratitude in little things x

- - mom152736 said
  - 21 Sep 2015
    5:12 pm
Eat chocolate….oh yeahhhhh !! helps me so much…. and listen to some soothing music

- - bedda1 said
  - 21 Sep 2015
    11:23 am
Thanks for sharing. Definitely some points in here that I identify with. I get so overwhelmed at times….need to take a deep breathe and tell yourself tomorrow is another day!

- - mom56312 said
  - 16 Sep 2015
    2:07 pm
Some days are better spent hiding away at home, but in the end as long as your kids are healthy and feed and the bills are paid. That is all that really matters.
- Lucas' Mum replied
  
  22 Sep 2015 , 10:08 am
  Absolutely! If the house is messy and the washing isn’t done we will all be ok. Should have added having a giggle or a game with the kid is also a perfect way to get out of this mood. They are so good at being happy.
- - mom103920 said
  - 15 Sep 2015
    9:54 am
Thanks for a good read Helle. Very true. I find the garden is my calming space. I thought to start with, this would be a story on the inspiration behind the piece, aka the very bad, no good day, and I’m glad it wasn’t – this was a beautiful uplifting piece to help build people up.
- Lucas' Mum replied
  
  15 Sep 2015 , 8:28 pm
  I love my garden too. xo