Friday, March 8, 2013

Un-Slumping yourself is not easily done



I told Jeremy yesterday I could feel depression setting in.

His response?

“Let’s try to avoid that at all cost.”

Thanks, babe.

The truth is, I can’t blame him for wanting to avoid it. We’ve been down that road before, him and I. More than once. More than twice, if I’m being honest. I’m prone to what I call “The Slump”

It’s not pretty. Not for me. Not for him. Not for him and I. It would be unfair to say that I’m responsible for the emotional well being of my whole family but, the truth is, when I’m in a slump, it’s super contagious.

And like the good Dr. (Seuss) says…

“You’ll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
That you’ll be in a Slump.
And when you’re in a Slump,
You’re not in for much fun.
Un-Slumping yourself
 is not easily done.”

Maybe it’s because my whole house has been sick for weeks. Maybe it’s because I haven’t written anything. Maybe it’s because I’m pregnant and my hormones are making me nutso. Maybe it’s because I have a lingering cough and I pee my pants more than my potty training three year old. Maybe it’s because everyone else has been able to sleep off their sickness and I haven’t. Between the cough and the pregnancy and the being the Mom, I haven’t really slept in weeks. Maybe it’s because I secretly want to kick them all in the throat while they’re sleeping because I’m so overcome with jealousy and exhaustion and I feel guilty about that. Maybe it’s because I have cabin fever and I’m ready to play outside in the sunshine. Maybe it’s all of the above.

It doesn’t matter. A slump is a slump no matter the reason.

Today, I decided I’d do a few things to try and un-slump myself. I figured if none of them worked, I’d be no worse off than when I woke up this morning.

Step 1. Take a shower.

I know, this one sounds like a no brainer but, trust me, some days it’s the hardest thing to bring myself to do. Especially when I’m in Slump Mode.

Step 2. Cry.

Yep. Cry. Right there in the bathroom. In my towel. In front of Jeremy. Cry and cry and cry until I was done crying. Why? Because it’s impossible to no longer feel like I need to cry until I just…cry.

Step 3. Music and eye liner.

The eye liner just helps me feel more human. Being off work and sick and pregnant and locked in the house has made eye liner all but unnecessary but, sometimes, you just gotta do some make-up therapy.

The play list while I applied said eye liner sounded like this. If you don’t know these songs, look ‘em up. They’re tried and true, good for the soul.


Step 4. Drive and Sing

On the freeway. All alone. No particular destination. (Although I did end up at Babies R Us, ‘Ooh-ing’ and ‘Aah-ing’ over little tiny outfits with pink ruffles on the butt.) I sang Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton’s duet “Just a fool” over and over again, really, really loud. (and out of key, I’m positive.)

Step 5. Starbucks

Don’t look at me like that. I know I’m pregnant. I know espresso is bad for me. You know what? So is The Slump and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

Step 6. Write this blog.

My BF Megan over at AbsoluteMommy says you should write something every day, even if it’s crap. I’m always jealous of her ability to put words on paper even when it seems like the rest of her world is falling apart. She takes the time for herself and her writing damn near every day. This isn’t a great and wonderful piece of writing but there is something about putting fingers to keyboard and words on paper that makes The Slump not seem so bad.


It may just be the caffeine talking, but I feel a lot less Slumped already.

Happy Friday, Friends.
go. do. be.