Why Am I So Tired? My Kids Did All The Work
I woke up this morning tired, headachy, lacking any spark. Like having a bad hangover, except I didn’t drink. How did this weekend kick my ass so completely? I just sat around (in shorts, mind you, not Dockers). My kids did all the work.
Friday night was a talent show at my son’s elementary school. Cloggers, violinists, singers, a jazz band – there were some talented kids! (Also some not-so-talented. Parents – please have the courage, courtesy, and common sense to tell your child when their “dance” act might best be done in pajamas with friends at a sleepover behind closed doors.) The show went late, but no matter, there was plenty of pizza and cupcakes.
Saturday was a lacrosse game in 95 degree heat. Talk about hot! The boys were dieing, running around in pads and helmets. I watched from a beach chair. (The sideline highlight of the game was a gravelly-voiced parent from the other team who constantly shouted, let’s go red! – through a megaphone! I cracked up every time. I want a megaphone, too!) Thank goodness for the Good Humor man in his ice cream truck. Bomb pops are to die for.
We raced from lacrosse to my daughter’s track meet an hour away. No time for food. I grabbed a coffee (in 95 degree heat!) and a snack bag of munchies. Doritos, sun chips, cheetos, pretzels – all in one bag. Talk about genius! I was in snack heaven. The track meet ended late, and I might have cooked pasta and peas, but I was tired. So I got take-out Chinese.
I snuck in a bike ride Sunday before my son’s team party at a local pizza/burger joint. Okay, so I had a beer, a 22 oz. Stella Artois. I deserved that after a kid-focused weekend like this. Especially when you factor in that I didn’t have custody. My kids were with their mom. I was just showing up to events, lending my support.
And I have the hungover-feeling to prove it.
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Comment by The Exception
| May 19th, 2008
I feel your pain.
During performance season, my daughter is all ballet all the time. I just help and sit and chat and… well, sit. Yet, when all is said and done, she is ready to run and party while I am crashed in bed and feeling out of it. One would think that it was me who danced hours on end given my need to recover! (And somehow I don’t think a bit of the dog that bit you is going to help!)
Comment by Shannon
| May 19th, 2008
Thanks to a single Dad who goes to all the events. :) I appreciate that. My daughter’s father goes to most of her events, but I know that so many don’t. I often wonder if it’s a sort of “forced disassociation” that happens when you aren’t the primary caregiver. Sort of a protective mechanism? Missing them so much that it’s easier sometimes to avoid and deny. Just a thought of course.
It is so exhausting to go to so many events, and I’m not even sure why.
Comment by Shannon
| May 19th, 2008
Oh yeah, by the way my daughter and I LOVE that snack mix. It’s one of her very favorite special treats (and mine too)!
Comment by Doug
| May 19th, 2008
It was definitely the heat!!!
Kicked my butt as well.
I, oh so graciously, volunteered to baby sit a friends house in RWC. Why when SF is usually so much cooler? Two words….swimming pool. Even with that running around after a 2.5yo in the heat on Thursday, Friday, and Sat makes for a some work. Then we did B 2 B yesterday so I am pooped. Glad for the cooler weather yesterday. If it was anything like Thurs/Fri/Sat there is no way you would see me pushing a stoller up Hayes hill. (Forgot to pump up the tires on the stroller….thank god for someone iwht a pump. Tires on the Bugaboo leak like crazy.) I am (somewhat) glad that it is back to normal here in SF. Although I do miss not having to wear a sweater while sitting on the patio at the cafe. (Current location.) Is 78 year round too much to ask?
Happy Monday!!
Comment by dadshouse
| May 19th, 2008
The Exception – I hear you! Kids have ungodly energy for having fun. Can’t they bottle it for us? Oh yeah, it’s called Red Bull.
Shannon – isn’t that snack mix pure genius? And I agree with you on the forced disassociation. I actually skipped one event this weekend because it was going to be overrun by ex’s extended family, and while there are no hard feelings, I’m just not part of that crowd anymore. It would be me and 20 of them in one place. Too weird. I chose to avoid it.
Doug – how was Bay to Breakers? I’ve run a few times including last year. The naked old men always freak me out. But the dozens of Elvis, the free flowing beer, and the naked young women usually make the event totally worthwhile! Who said it was a running race?
For anyone who hasn’t been – google image it!
Comment by Doug
| May 19th, 2008
Bay to Breakers is always a blast!! My daughter has *ran* in all three since she has been born. This year she really had fun pointing
out people and talking about them.
I especially have it good. I have a friend who lives on Hayes right near Webster. We leave early in the pack and then stop at his place and watch the bulk of the race go by 3 stories up and then follow on near the end. Twas kind of weird this year though….”Daddy why is that person have no clothes.” But on the whole it was a blast.
I then head back to my place, daughter has a nap and I watch all the crazys walking back down Haight from my front porch. Love B 2 B.
Google image or youtube works well!!
Comment by debra
| May 19th, 2008
The day I google ‘naked old men’…someone please shoot me! ;)
Comment by mssinglemama
| May 19th, 2008
I LOVE Stella! Crazy.
But you know what – it always hits me like a rock and makes me sleepy if I drink it in the middle of the day …
Glad you had such a great weekend.
Comment by Honey
| May 19th, 2008
It seems like one of the downsides of being a parent in general is the proximity to tasty snack food…your kids and all their friends have amazing young metabolisms and you end up feeling hung over, which you were. Just with processed sugar and sodium instead of alcohol. You should bring apples or something with you wherever you go, and eat one before you help yourself to the snack food. You’ll still get to have some, but portion control will be easier.
Comment by Joy
| May 19th, 2008
I just came across your blog today and really like what I see so I’ll be back. We all just love that snack mix too. You must be a wonderful father.
Comment by Kat Wilder
| May 19th, 2008
Pizza? Cupcakes? Doritos? Bomb pops?
Hmm, used to be single men had ketchup and beer in their fridge. Singles dads have obviously upgraded …
The hardest part of parenting (oh, OK, there are lots of hardest parts) is the food thing. It starts when you eat the leftover peas and cut up hot dogs on their plate during toddlerhood and ends up like your weekend.
I make sure I have an iced coffee (or hot if it’s cold out) before I go to any sporting event; who wants to waste a good coffee breath?
Comment by dadshouse
| May 19th, 2008
Hi Joy – welcome! Clearly, that snack mix rocks.
Honey – the funny thing is, the kids at lacrosse ate fresh watermelon, and I was downing a popsicle. At track, they ate bananas, and I had snack mix. So yes, they have faster metabolisms, but they also made wiser choices than me this weekend!
Kat – I usually eat much better than this. I used to run marathons and now I cycle centuries, and I eat pretty darn healthy to fuel those sports. But occasionally I don’t. Like this past weekend.
An ever-growing list of recipes I cook: http://dadshouseblog.com/category/food-recipes/
Second only to the ever-growing list of cocktails I shake: http://dadshouseblog.com/category/cocktail-recipes/
Comment by Chris
| May 20th, 2008
Listen, driving around, sitting around watching a performance, standing around watching a game IS TIRING! And to top it off, the heat what else can I say.
It’s really cool how you go to those events. Your presence I’m sure meant a lot to your children.