No one needs to hear another parent bitch about how tired they are. Outside of bragging about whatever insignificant thing their stupid kid recently accomplished (we get it, he’s a doctor, shut up!), it’s probably most abused topic within the parenting community. Every parent complains about being tired all the time, and it’s no less annoying for being accurate.
But goddammit I am tired! Only here’s the thing: it’s not because of my kids! It’s because of daylight saving(s) time, and because I’m old, and because I’m stupid.
On one level, this is good news. My kids are 12 and 7, and while they remain largely helpless - due to their general incompetence and our own mistakes (a little too much coddling and servitude, not enough dropping them off in the wilderness with nothing but a knife and some duct tape) - they are self-sufficient enough to get up on their own and feed themselves in the morning, thus sparing us from another sunrise wake-up.
While school days require some motivation and supervision (I still have to walk the 7yo every morning), on weekends Mom and Buried and I are afforded a few hours of sleeping in while they watch TV and play video games. (If being neglectful is how I get some rest, then so be it!) This is the first time in a solid 12 and a half years that “sleeping in” is actually achievable!
And now for the rub…
As my children get older, so do I. And I already started at a deficit! So while I can see the light at the end of the child-care tunnel, there’s the fact that I am simply getting too old to stay up late, or even to stay up to what had been a normal hour, and not be tired in the morning. My body clock is set to wake up early (due to kids but also work) and I'm not good at napping, so all I can really do is try to go to bed earlier. To which I say BOO!
The reality is that my general fatigue is becoming less the result of parenting (though it will still be a factor, especially once The Hammer’s Little League season starts; no one needs to play baseball at 8am, you sadists!) and more due to the fact I am getting old. (That and the shift to daylight saving time! Aren’t we done with this yet?!)
This is devastating to me. For years I’ve made my bones off of bitching about my kids, and while there will continue to be plenty of things to complain about - my oldest is about to be a teenager, so strap in! - the fact that I am thisclose to not being able to blame them for my general exhaustion is really tough. To say nothing of the depressing reminder of my rapidly approaching death! Please keep me in your prayers.
And help me brainstorm so new kid-related downsides to rant about. Thanks in advance!
Social Round-up
Pop Culture Stuff
We watched the Oscars. It was boring, as it always is, but at least a good movie one. Not my favorite movie, but a good one, so that’s a win.
In other news, The Last of Us had its first season finale, which we watched the day after the Oscars. Like many people, I like the show, but Mom and Buried LOVES it. It’s honestly bizarre. When it was being promoted ahead of the premiere, I was all-in, but I was pretty sure she would have no interest in a post-apocalyptic zombie show based on a video game. Now not only is she so in she’s ranting about it in her Instagram stories, she’s actually curious to watch The Mandalorian, even though she DESPISED Baby Yoda! And she told me that Pedro Pascal is now on her Hall Pass list. Things are getting weird.
Last but not least, I finished “The Winners”, the third book in the "Beartown” trilogy from writer Fredrik Backman. Great series, loved the book, though I preferred the first two. Highly recommend all three!
Personal News
Last week I said I was going to put beer stuff in here, but I didn’t have any exciting new beers over the weekend. Wait! I had Grimm’s Wavetable IPA, and that was great.
We’re currently trying to figure out something to do on my kid’s spring break without breaking the bank, especially after we just went away for their stupid mid-winter break and then we have stupid summer break. Argh. Anybody got a beach house we can stay in? Preferably somewhere that it’s warm in April.
P.S. I still need freelance work! Hook it up!