Monday 26 October 2020

Parenting is hard at times


Hey readers,

Today I just want to curl up in a ball and hide away from the world. I have had a really difficult day looking after a really energetic child.

 It didn’t help that when walking into town my son decided all he wanted to do was just scream most of the way and chanting that he wants daddy. It is unbelievably exhausting especially as I am so sensitive to hearing because of my autism.


Then in the afternoon I just constantly had to deal with this mental battle in my head that if I am not entertaining my child 24/7 then somehow I am a rubbish parent. It is a constant battle that occurs in my own head and the sad thing is, is that it is all made by me.

 No one has told me that I am rubbish, it is just me putting so much pressure on myself, probably some guilt around being autistic and having shortfalls that other parents don't have to deal with. 

However, today my anxiety is so high that I am left with a killer headache because I am so tense from my self-inflicted anxiety. 

I have already had a panic attack and sometimes when so bad I am fearful social services will come and take my child of me simply because I had the TV on to much or I am a bit rubbish at communicating.

  It sounds silly writing this down but at the time the fears are real and frightening.

Why is it so hard to find a middle ground, I suppose this is always my problem never really reaching that right balance of moderation. I have always been extreme because that is just simply the way my brain is wired. I am all or nothing, so naturally, it would seem down into my parenting. 

I think because a lot of things is down to not communicating and no 'rules' as such I find it difficult to manage. All the things that I am good at are structure-based and have a step-to-step system, it is what I excel at. 

I am not good at ambiguous. I never have and I don't think I will ever have the skills no matter how many times I try. SO, basically, I need to accept me for who I am and instead of putting me down, embrace the skills and use them to my advantage,. I think this is one of the biggest learning curves for me as an autistic parent to master.

But I will say truthfully with having such an energetic child who will not sit still or does not want to engage in anything longer than five minutes is tough. 

Especially, when at times where I am by myself and feel like constantly breaking down with fear of how am I going to get past the next three hours?

I hope this stage gets easier and that I can relax and enjoy parenting a bit more and less of a pain in the arse chore that I have to get through.

I feel awful for writing this but this is the truth, this is how I feel at times. Don’t get me wrong other times parenting feels like a breeze especially when there is another parent to help out.

Cheers for reading X

1 comments:

  1. Oh no! Sending hugs. It sounds like a rough day. Don't be so hard on yourself. You're a good mum and you keep telling yourself that! x

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