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Beating Myself Up and the War on Head Lice

I've been trying to write a post all week last week on how I was beating myself up too much.  Last week was a rough week back at work, but by the end of the week, I felt like I was getting a handle on things there at least.  Having to take off Monday this week, made today at work feel out of control all over again though.

At home last week, I was beating myself up for things I knew I wanted to get done, but I knew I shouldn't be hard on myself.  I know our friends we went on vacation didn't even finish unpacking from when we went away.  We had unpacked by the same day we got back and started laundry.  But bills were behind where I wanted to be, meals weren't planned, and I knew Phoebe had to get back on track with her summer reading and math work.  They go back to school the last week of August.

The reason I had to take Monday off work at first was to take Tommy to the doctor and see if he had another ear infection.  Well he doesn't, but Phoebe got head lice.  Yup, did that ever throw stuff for a loop around here.  We did the hair shampoo, combed for nits twice (once with the provided hair gel and a second time with olive oil), the house was vacuumed, bed linens and pillows washed in hot water, and all Phoebe's stuffed animals out in the open were put into trash bags, the air sucked out of them, and they were tossed into the garage for a few weeks.  Personally, I won't be happy to see them come back.  Her room has never looked cleaner, LOL.  I just want the buggy feeling on me and DH to go away.  We keep checking each other and we don't seem to be affected, but we keep obsessing on every scratch we need to do on our head, "Am I OK?  Please check me!" We keep saying to each other.

So today, even though work was overwhelming at least I knew we are close to the other side of our lice issue.  I did get caught up on bills and thinks aren't looking too bad in that respect, so I'm feeling a bit better.  Now I'm going to kick off the sneakers (I'm wearing my lace up shoes like Flylady says to), get a glass of wine and get caught up on blogs.  I've missed reading you all so much!!!

The thing that is still bothering me is there's just so much more that I want for my life and I'm trying to figure out how to get it.  I work all day and then when I get home, I know I have a whole other job to do, but I've lost energy by the time I get home.  I do know that exercising and making sure I'm eating healthy will help.  I haven't exercised in about two months I think - eek!  No wonder my lower back is so unhappy with me.  It's amazing though how much energy I got just from getting caught up on bills and paperwork that had been hanging over my head.  I hate feeling like that and I need to stop getting behind on that stuff.  Please note, that when I'm late on things though, I'm not really late.  It's like what my daughter says if I say we're late for an appointment, "It's just that we'll show up on time and not 10 minutes early."  How well she knows me.

So I'll be keeping up with my organizing and planning for the Back to School stuff for Phoebe and getting lots done at work and home.  I am feeling very energized now that I got some things done tonight.  I'm curious to see how I feel tomorrow.

Comments

Queenie. . . said…
I know just how you feel. So sorry about the lice. I read that throwing stuff in a garbage bag and then in the car trunk for a few days in hot weather is a good way to kill bedbugs (no idea what I was reading or why-we didn't hVe them!). But anyway, given how hot it's been, maybe that would give you some peace of mind on the stuffed animals?
You and I are peas in a pod, Heather :)

I also set very high standards for myself that are sometimes unrealistic.

What has helped is telling myself, "80% is good enough"

And when I read about the lice, my head suddenly felt itchy so I can only imagine your heightened paranoia :)
JEN said…
Being a working mom and having that "second job" to do can be so tiring.
Deanna said…
I totally get the feeling of being behind on everything in both areas of life--work and home. Glad you are feeling a little more together now!

I heard of two other kids with lice just in the last week or so. It seems strange since they aren't even in school right now. Oh, I dread those times! : )
BigP's Heather said…
I'm itching all over after reading it.

You are a fantastic mother, wife, friend. You are nice to everyone else. Be nice to yourself.

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