The biggest joke in the universe is that moms
don’t get days off.
Taking care of others is the sort of gig that allows
no time off, not even when you’re far away and there’s zero possibility of
finding that one pair of leggings or the extra container of hair goo that has
mysteriously disappeared.
You always care, are often contacted, and are
expected to take care of business even when you’re not there by setting things
in motion, guiding through the process, and cleaning up afterwards. There’s no
end in sight, even though the people around you are capable of doing the job
that you do – for them, usually – themselves.
I’m tired.
It’s well-established in my family that I don’t
really enjoy taking care of everyone’s junk. As much as I lament the aging of
my children and their looming departure, I am quite enjoying the fact that they
can feed and wash themselves, get their work done on their own, and even help
me with some of life’s heavy stuff.
Literally. Having teenagers – particularly a
teenage boy with brand-new muscles that he is anxious to use – is the best thing
ever when I need to move something big.
I’ve been doing this job long enough now that
nobody in my family even tries anymore to pretend that an off day for me is really
an off day. Even my husband, who understands my need to cocoon once in a while,
will stand in front of me and, after listening to me insist that I want nothing
else but to relax, will say with no mockery, sarcasm, or irony whatsoever, “So,
can you help me with…?”
There are no breaks.
Which makes me think – what would a day off
actually look like?
A day off isn’t really a day off unless the
next day can start anew with its own responsibilities and none of the day off’s
responsibilities waiting in the wings, all piled up. The point of a day off is
to relax and reorient ourselves to why we are here in the first place, to appreciate
and have a renewed vigor for our tasks at hand when we return to them.
A day off is really just a break for a little
while, a brief period during which responsibilities and family members wait (sometimes
not so) patiently until they can launch themselves at you so you can find the
leggings and the hair goo and extra printer paper and Q-tips I JUST BOUGHT A MEGA
BOX OF Q-TIPS AND THEY ARE UNDER YOUR BATHROOM SINK.
Sigh. A day off.
That’s hilarious.
*******
This post inspired by:
Mama Kat's Writing Workshop
Prompt #1: You have a
day off, what do you do with your free time?
