Caregiver Fatigue

It’s been a hard week. Everyone but me got sick. D was holed up in bed. The kids got fevers followed by a state of permanent fussiness. Dee-dee has to be held constantly and has a meltdown at the slightest provocation, meltdowns that can last for over twenty minutes. E has taken her usual particularity to an extreme, losing it if I don’t do everything a certain way, refusing to eat most things.

It isn’t long before I start feeling the familiar symptoms of caregiver fatigue. I feel trapped, like I want to yell really loud or get out of the house, but I can’t. Every little thing the kids do tick me off. I can’t deal with another meltdown, another crumb falling into the carpet, another mouthful of unwanted food spit across my shirt, another cramp in my legs when I’m holding him while bending down to pick something up. I start bitterly comparing my life with my husband’s—he doesn’t have to take care of the kids all the time, his life is so much easier—or with that of other people (conveniently forgetting single parents or mothers of twins).

Most of all, I lose perspective. I feel like the kids are doing this to me on purpose. I feel like my whole world has narrowed to this house that gets messier and grimier, to heating up leftovers no one wants to eat, to washing the same sippy cups that get the annoying grime stuck in the straw parts that I can’t get out. I lose sight of the fact that I wanted to take care of the children more, of the help that I do have, of the fact that this will pass as they recover. I lose sight of who I am, what I do, aside from being a caregiver.

The closest way I came to feeling this way before I had kids was when I’d get burned out at the end of some ward rotation. I’d feel sick of wearing pants with drawstrings all the time, of eating peanut butter and graham crackers; I’d get mad at every stupid consult and social admission. But at least then there were other people on my team, people taking shifts with me or that I passed off patients to. In this motherhood thing you can feel very alone. All day, I’m trying to keep it together with the kids, be the better person, but there’s no one to speak for me. No one to understand what I’m going through. No one to point out what I might be losing sight of at any given time.

I cycle into this state every so often—a place of anger, resentment, bitterness and depression that eventually leads to some realizations. That I need time and space away by myself to regain perspective. That I need to remember who I am by doing things I enjoy for myself, both one-time experiences and cultivated interests. That it is okay to pay someone to watch the kids for all of the above without feeling guilty. That we need to constantly reevaluate the complicated balance we maintain of work, childcare and ministry to see if the things that are most important are staying that way. That we need to clarify expectations and needs with each other without placing blame or communicating resentment.

I’ve gotten somewhat better. I play in a worship band and have been teaching a resident lecture series, both of which account largely for why I’m much happier around the house. We're helping to plant a church, which has helped us focus on something outward together. I’m working on the concept that paying for help is okay. I control my temper around the kids (slightly) better. I try to recognize the signs earlier. I try to displace my anger less and talk through issues more. 

It’s a work in progress, but I think the biggest thing is realizing that this thing called caregiver fatigue exists. It’s not that I’m a bad mother or person. It’s not that I’m not cut out for having kids. It’s not that my kids are abnormally bad. It’s not that my life is unfair or horrible. It’s just what happens when you are constantly giving to meet demanding needs. You just can’t do that forever; we don’t have inexhaustible reserves, and that’s okay.