A SHORT BREAK FROM DROWNING

Madeleine Thompson - 4 Nov 14

It is Monday, 11am, and my toddler and nearly-eleven month old are asleep. This isn’t headline news for those of you who have children with regular nap times. But for me it is bliss. My baby sleeps every now and again during the day but mostly life is too exciting, my toddler is much the same. We are moving from ‘one nap’ to ‘gulp no naps’ fairly quickly.

So my days with them are typically non stop. Today I find myself in this situation quite unexpectedly and I expect by the time I finish writing this they will both be stirring, as is the law of sod.

I feel at the moment very much like Mrs Elephant in Five Minutes Peace. Hopefully I will get more than five minutes.

It isn’t just a chance to have some peace but a chance to have some time away from the chaos at the moment. Sometimes I feel like I am drowning. Do you ever feel like that?

An acquaintance many years ago once likened life and well being to being on a series of steps that begin above water and go underneath. The worse you feel, the lower you go, and sometimes you can’t find you way back up above the water, so you feel like you are drowning. I feel like that often at the moment. Quite overwhelmed with how to manage life when there are so many juggling balls, for want of a better analogy, to juggle. Even basic things that I used to take for granted, such as doing the weekly washing round, seem to flaw me, and I feel relieved and triumphant when I can clear it all by using my parents much superior washing machine. It’s all about the rock and roll.

I listened to a piece on the radio some weeks ago about having solitary time, having peace. Three lady writers were interviewed and they all spoke of what it meant to them. What surprised, and enlightened, me was that it didn’t always involve complete silence and being alone, but that you could find moments of solitude anywhere. I hold that thought with me for the moments when the babies are very much awake with no sign of flagging, and I find my moments of non-quiet peace.

For now, I will enjoy being Mrs Elephant, whilst the juggling balls take a break, the washing is clean, and all I can hear are contended sleepy breaths. Ready for the next shift…

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Madeleine Thompson

I am mum to my little chicks, Aisha, 6 and Abel, 4. Originally from Yorkshire, UK, I now live in a little town in the North West. By day, I work for myself as a freelance PA. By night, I indulge my passion for writing.

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