Aug 2, 2012

Just One of Those Days

I find it interesting that I can say something along the lines of, “Just one of those days,” and most people will understand what I am saying almost immediately. It’s similar to that joke about how we can refer to “the pill” and people know which one we are talking about. There are only a few hundred varieties of pills to choose from, and there are how many thousands of days to experience, yet “the pill” and “one of those days” is so easily isolated from everything else.

I don’t think it would be of interest if I went through the details of my day. It was just me and my daughter of two and a half in an intense battle of mind games, trying to outlast the other, out maneuver and thinking five steps ahead to wear down their defenses.

The details also may discourage other couples who read this from having children.

When I had one of those days at work, I could easily get by with a few drinks and a conversation with a friend to get my mind off of what happened.

When you have one of those days with a toddler running around and have no real escape (can’t drink, go to a movie, etc) it can be exhausting mentally. I was finding myself yawning at 8:30pm.

The worst part about these days is I feel like I am failing at everything I do. There is no easy solution for me to resolve things with my daughter since it’s an ongoing process, and I don’t get much of an opportunity to focus on anything else I want to be doing. Meanwhile, I spend time during the day watching the Olympics[1], admiring the athletes in all their perfection and wondering how fortunate most of them are to be able to focus so much energy on training to achieve success at a high level. If only I were so lucky to be able to do that.

The only thing I can do is lay in bed exhausted and hope tomorrow is a lot more fun for us both.

Just one of those days is thankfully only one day and not a week, a month, a year.

I don’t know how single parents of multiple kids survive these days. Kudos to them for survivng.