• Home
  • New? Start Here
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Real Mom Life

  • Purpose and Passion
    • Planners
    • Purpose and passion
    • Reinvention
    • Retirement
    • Starting a business
    • Volunteering
    • Working
    • Trying new things
    • Ageism
    • Giving back
    • Confidence
    • Encore careers
    • Encouragement
    • Gratitude
    • Happiness
    • Inspiration
    • Lifelong Learning
  • Adventure
    • Travel
    • Technology
    • Trying new things
    • Books and movies
    • Embracing change
    • Fun
    • Holidays
    • Pets
  • Relationships
    • Marriage
    • Friendships
    • Parenting
    • Painful parenting
    • Mothering
    • Grandparenting
    • Aging parents
    • Empty nest
    • Cancer caregiving
    • Child adoption
    • Homeschooling
    • Special needs kids
    • Life skills for kids
    • Activities for kids
  • Health and Beauty
    • Alternative health practices
    • Fashion
    • Hair care
    • Health insurance
    • Healthy aging
    • Healthy brain
    • Makeup
    • Medical issues
    • Mental health
    • Sexuality
    • Skin care
    • Sleep
    • Stress
    • Nutrition
    • Physical fitness
    • Self-care
  • Creativity and Spirituality
    • Faith
    • Crafts
    • Hobbies
    • Art journaling
    • Blogging
    • Journaling
    • Jewelry making
    • Writing
  • Home and Finances
    • Cleaning
    • Cooking and food
    • Declutter
    • Decor
    • DIY Home
    • Downsize
    • Gardening
    • Holidays
    • Organizing
    • Saving money
    • Simplify
  • Coffee Love
  • Rants, Raves and Reviews
  • Bucket List
  • Shop

Numb Mum

January 11, 2014 By Christine Field

This post may contain affiliate links.

Spread the love

Mothering several small children at the same time was, for me, often mind numbing. My days swung between off-the-meter stress and irritation, to brain deadening sameness and daily-ness. numbmum

I love my children completely. I love being a mother. In the end, mothering has expanded my heart and my soul more than any other thing I had ever done.

But some days were positively brain deadening.

The joy of mothering is in the moments of discovery and delight and the snuggling and loving.

The challenge of mothering was in the repetition involved in ministering to small kids, coupled with the persistence of the constant battle of wills with opinionated children.

Many days I was simply a numb mum.

Setting my emotions like flint to deal with a day filled with chaos.

It seemed like the only way to survive.

It explained why I often could not stop yawning when I read aloud to the kids. Checked out. Distanced. Brain somewhere else, or brain taking a wee nap.

It explained why I sometimes ran out the door when hubby came home. I had to get away and detach so I could feel something again.

It explained why I perhaps spent a little too much time on the internet trying to connect with someone who didn’t drool and demand.

I remember those overwhelmed years with great fondness and love.

My only regret?

I wish I could have been more PRESENT. Instead of constantly feeling like I was in survival mode, I wish I had been in delight mode. I’m afraid I missed a lot.

My kids are mostly grown. I am grateful every day that I am alert to life and seizing the moments.

I look around and feel great sadness when I see checked-out dads and detached mums, just going through the motions.

My life goal, for whatever remains, is simply this: Be present.

Don’t miss it.

Filed Under: Mothering, Parenting, Relationships Tagged With: attention, coping, detachment, mothers, Parents

Previous Post: « Jury duty from this side
Next Post: When life sucks »

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

FacebookInstagrammailPinterestYouTubeTwitter

Hi, I’m Christine

Have you been a wholehearted mother, but time, toddlers and teenagers have moved on? If you are wondering what comes next for you, you’ll feel right at home here.

Or, are you a mom for whom family life has been non-Pinworthy and parenting has been downright painful? I hear ya. There are many of us around.

Are you looking for a life full of exploration and adventure after the nest empties, but maybe you have no idea how to go about doing that? Stick around! We’ll explore adventures together to help you gain more clarity for your own path.

After a couple decades of writing books and articles about parenting, homeschooling and adoption, speaking to homeschoolers and other parent groups, and reaching out to the mom in the trenches who was trying to make the best of it - my kids grew up. Some grew up and grew away. I was determined to find a way out of the pain, emptiness and lack of direction.

For many of us, the journey starts with something we moms are not accustomed to. After years of caring for and serving others, sometimes we forget the beauty and wonder of US. We need to spend some time getting to know the parts of ourselves that have lain dormant, and take the time to explore interests and passions that we set aside.

I’d like to invite you to get the “What’s Next for Mom” workbook and jump into this growing tribe of Moms who are emptying the nest and filling the life! Let’s reignite your Mojo after Mothering!
Read More…

Search the Blog

Want to Search For Something?

Disclosure

Real Mom Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Footer

About Christine

FacebookInstagrammailPinterestYouTubeTwitter

At Real Mom Life, my passion is to provide resources and reassurances for moms facing the surprising challenges of family life. In my writing and speaking, I explore solutions to unexpected issues in adoption, homeschooling, special needs, and more while encouraging moms to extract the maximum joy out of each day. Read More…

Real Mom Life

Real Mom Life

107 N. Pierce Ave.

Wheaton, IL 60187

Copyright © 2021 Real Mom Life on the Foodie Pro Theme