Last week at Girls on the Run, we were discussing emotions and went over a list of emotional responses, like joy, contentment, shame, and anger. Some of the girls didn’t know what the word ‘overwhelmed’ meant so I asked someone to explain.
One of the fourth graders raised her hand and said, “I know what overwhelmed means because I have three little brothers and they make a lot of noise and mess up the house. My mom always says, ‘I feel so overwhelmed,’ when they start going crazy.†She then imitated her mother throwing up her hands, fed up and exhausted, and let out a big sigh.
I laughed so hard. I keep thinking about Addison’s definition of being overwhelmed.
One of the traps of blogging is that it’s easy to sugarcoat life and say it’s all okay when it’s not. I don’t want anyone to ever think that I’m superwoman because I am certainly not. So… I’m saying it. I’m overwhelmed. The stress of juggling my work, getting ready for my book release, helping the Husband’s with his business (which is booming!), volunteering, being pregnant, exercising, and… oh yeah… buying a house and moving is getting to me. At least I’m not dealing with three little brothers! 
One silly thing that is really getting to me is the state of our house. You know how there are two types of cleaners – those who like to scrub the floor with a toothbrush and those who like to just keep it tidy? I’m a tidy girl. I hate visual clutter. My house currently looks like this, which is driving me nuts.
I tend to focus on things that don’t really matter when I’m stressed, and I know that freaking out about the state of my house is a metaphor for how I’m feeling in general. But I just want to TIDY SOMETHING!
I gave myself a big pep talk in the shower this morning. I’ve found that out loud pep talks are the most effective (I usually do them in the car or shower so other people won’t hear me!). It was basically along the lines of, “This stress will soon pass. This stress will result in many good things. Count your blessings instead of your struggles.†I did feel a lot better – a lot less overwhelmed – afterwards. And I’m going to try to get some big projects done in advance today so I don’t have to stress out about them later. I’m trying to tackle my overwhelmed feeling emotionally and practically! Let’s see if it works.
Fuel for a busy day.
It’s strange but I’m experiencing more food aversions in the third trimester than I ever did in the first. The Husband made Indian food last night, and I nearly gagged. Smoothies are one of the only thing that I actually want.
In the blender:
Almond milk
Banana
Frozen raspberries
Sunflower butter
And toast with cottage cheese.
Ready… set… go! Here’s to hoping I’m just whelmed very soon. No over or under!
I just read an article on USATODAY.com about the naked face project! yay! I have been going more naked face lately and I’m really into it. Congrats!