Roller Coaster Ride

This has been a roller coaster of a week. 

Actually not really a roller coaster....more like a down hill spiral. 

It just seems like I was freaking out most of the week. No matter what I was doing, no matter where I was, I was freaking out. I even felt my heart racing. . . the beginnings of an anxiety attack coming on and had to tell myself to calm the heck down. I am - as much as I hate to admit it - a pretty emotional person. I let things bother me. I worry. I internalize. So much so, that people at work actually noticed. Well - not people. FRIENDS. You know how it is - people who don't care about you don't notice when you are having a terrible day, let alone a terrible week. Any-hoo - I was stressing out to the point that my two closest friends at work noticed. One even worried so much she called me at home, for which I am profoundly grateful. 

Without divulging too much information here - since one of the before mentioned adult children does know I have this blog, and may even drop by to read it every now and then - let's just say that here we are on Sunday afternoon and I feel a bazillion times better than I did at this same time last Sunday.

One thing I do feel the need to say is this: Those of you that have young children - I know that you think things get easier as they get older. The truth is, it doesn't get easier, it just is a different kind of stress. You never stop being a parent. You never stop worrying about your kids no matter how old they are, no matter if they are married, no matter if they live close to you or in another state. It never gets easier. It just gets different. Instead of worrying about whether they are crawling when they should, or if they have turned in their homework, or if they washed their hands before they grabbed up that pbj - you are worrying about whether they have enough gas in their car, remembered to set their alarm for work, and have something other than just pbj to eat. While they may not be waking  you up with wet diapers, teething, and fevers all night any more- they just might be keeping you up with your own headaches and insomnia. 

I say that to say this: if you have young children - please cherish this time with them. Enjoy every scraped knee, every temper tantrum, every forgotten permission slip and be glad for it all, because those are all easily solved problems that Moms can fix with not much more than a kiss, a hug, and a little old fashioned Mom-ology. Because the reality is, the time will come when grown up problems like unemployment, empty bank accounts and lack of options become something they want your help fixing, and you may not be able to. It's painful to watch your adult children struggle. It's painful to sometimes have to LET them struggle when you could easily help them -just so they learn a valuable lesson. It stinks. 

So - here's to a better week. Here's to easily solved problems and good nights of sleep.