Have you ever had one of those days where you just think you can’t take another sound? When time feels like it’s standing still and every person on the planet have been placed here simply to annoy you? These are the days when nothing works, your hair doesn’t do the right thing, your jeans did up tighter than yesterday, your internal body temperature is higher than the steam cleaner you forgot to turn off yesterday, your tea or coffee spill in the cup holder on the way to work or to drop off the kids at school and it’s the day that no one in the house can find a matching sock.
Call it what you will, PMS, crazy mum syndrome, nutzo mum of the year. I don’t know what to call it, I just call it REAL. Whilst yelling at kids, husband, co-worker, fellow taxi mum, I find myself quietly (or sometimes not so quietly) chanting to myself, ‘it will be okay, this is normal, this too shall pass’, Between every high speed chant comes another blow out of my steam engine, hormone revved up body.
This morning was classic. After walking through the hair, the jeans (oh yeah, and the war paint was not happening as per the usual effect and how I manage to slap on for the day), as we are about to walk out the door to head to school, one of my children decides to say, ‘Mum you were supposed to wash my gym uniform last night and I can’t find my gym bag so I don’t have any shoes for gym, everything was in my bag.’ So, with that I find myself digging through the dirty laundry pile for the uniform, sniffing whilst I go making sure the uniform is at an acceptable level for wear.
I conquer the gym wear with ease, or so I think. However through my cloud of frustration and hormonal rage I know I haven’t solved anything, rather I’ve diffused a situation for a moment and everyone stays still, just because they know I’m in a bad way. This is followed by my husband who decides he should give me tips on how to get into the car, that he parked ever so tightly in the garage. Why (you may be asking) would your husband give you tips on how to enter a car? Yes, at 43 the mind boggles. Even though my memory is challenged at times due to what ‘they’ call peri-menopause, I’m pretty sure I’ve been getting in and out of cars successfully since I was, let’s say around 3! Okay, maybe during my early 20’s I could have had one or two mishaps but for the most part I’m a pretty competent car person. Oh, and I must mention again (just to get my point across) that the reason he was giving me tips was because when parking the car (in the garage) last night, HE parked it way to close to the other car…. My thinking, why wouldn’t you back it up and re park? Isn’t that what anyone would do?
My hubby quickly realised that giving me tips on entering a motor vehicle was probably not the smartest thing to do on this particular morning. I was curious to know when he picked that up cue up. Was it when I gave him a look that could take down any army that dare stand in my way? Perhaps it was when I managed to bark out, ‘I don’t think I need to be told how to get into a car, I can make my way around this garage any way I dam well please. But, thanks for your wise input. Oh, and by the way, who parks like this, where did you get your licence?’ I’m wondering if that was the moment the lights went on for him?
I say all of this admitting loud and proud that once I dropped my kids off at school I headed straight for the pharmacy/chemist and bought myself some Midol… Mum’s if you don’t know what Midol is, it’s the Modern Day Tic Tac for those of us walking through PMS, Peri-Menopause or full on Menopause. It is a life support system in a bottle.
May I say, to the makers of Bayer my family, those around me and of course, myself, thank you for providing me with the opportunity to return to my sane, normal self even in the midst of the storm.
I am reminded today of these two quotes, ‘That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ and ‘tomorrow is another day.’ Now it’s time to breathe and pour myself a glass of red! Anyone with me?
Note: Here’s a link to the famous song ‘Manic Monday’ by the Bangles. If you want to join me, you can substitute the words and sing ‘Just Another Midol Monday’. Go for it girls, turn up the volume, find your hairbrush and sing at the top of your lungs.. This is called Therapy!