Mom Stress

I have noticed when stressful situations arise in my life; lack of sleep is not far behind. Unfortunately that is what I need most when things are stressful. I can go for days without proper sleep which contributes to my already grouchy disposition as hubby likes to refer it to (sometimes I wonder why he even married me). Needless to say, when I’m in one of my insomnia bouts they tend to last somewhere from a week to a month. The longest time frame was when my father had a stroke and I didn’t sleep much for 3 months while I helped take care of him.

I think moms of special needs children are stressed out to the max with dealing with various problems that come with the territory. The only time we get “free time” is when our child is at school. We moms feel guilty how much we look forward to sending them off on the bus in the morning and how we sometimes feel when they come home from school.

I remember when my son would come home from elementary school with angry notes from his teachers saying how disruptive he was during class. If they would just follow the IEP, this would not happen! UGH! Just thinking about it makes my blood boil. Now I know why my mother who was a teacher used to grab a frantic glass of wine when she came home from school and immersed herself with ‘The Merv Griffin Show’ every afternoon. At an early age I knew that mom was off limits during this time and that she wasn’t herself until the credits started rolling at the end of her show. Alas, ‘The Merv Griffin Show’ is long gone and to replace it we have ‘Oprah’ which tends to get on my nerves as much as those nasty notes from my son’s irate teachers.





So on those unwelcoming days when the ka-ka hits the fan, I take heed of my mother’s liquid stress reliever and have a glass or two before dinner when stress reaches it’s peak. At least wine comes in convenient 3 liter boxes now. They are also lightweight with no glass to break or corkscrew required. Yes, we’ve come a looooooong way baby and I love the new packaging. Fresh wine on tap. And it’s great to take on cruises too! :)






So what do you do to relieve mom stress?