Do you ever have those days where you can’t shake a bad mood? I’m totally having one of those days right now.
I’m not angry or anything like that. I do, however, feel frustrated for a number of reasons and overwhelmed by a great many things in my life. All I want to do is focus I on improving our quality of life, even a tiny amount.
School let’s out in five days, and we have a long summer ahead of us.
There’s a zero percent chance of us being able to afford going on any type of vacation, but we’re going to try to get in as many day trips as we can. Even that’s likely to be a struggle, but it’s important that we give the kids the opportunities that day trips can offer.
We’ve been making a list of possible things we could do, and everyone is contributing to the idea pool. We’re thinking about things like:
- Akron/Cleveland/Columbus Zoo
- Great Lakes Science Center
- Museums (Art and History)
- Hiking
- Movies
- Events hosted by the local library
I’d love to take the kids camping. That probably won’t work out for a couple of reasons, but I think the kids would absolutely love it.
Emmett has his heart set on going to a Dude Perfect show in Columbus this summer, and I would love to make this happen but realistically, it won’t. That makes me sad to even say that, and I know he will be hugely disappointed.
It’s just one of those days where everything in life weighs heavy, and focusing on the positive becomes increasingly more difficult.
My Mom’s having knee surgery next month. Lizze goes for her surgical consult for her knees next month as well. My Grandmother is not doing well, and our time with her is winding down. It sucks, and any one of those things in a vacuum would be difficult, but they’re all at the same time. They’re also just a few of the dozens of things I have going on. It’s overwhelming for me and frustrating because it is unbelievably difficult to find any type of balance.
I get demoralized at times and I wish I could find ways of doing better.
There’s always something to be thankful, and I’ll devote an entire post to that shortly.
Now see, I looked at your list and thought it was great. Doing any of those is special. I know so many people go on vacations and they may sound awesome. You all did get that awesome one for Gavin not too long ago. I’m sure they will remember that fondly.
But the fact is, no one posts about all the glitches and problems with their vacay. Social media is usually people posting the best of their lives. (I know you post about your life honestly, albeit I’m sure you edit some things for privacy. Same with me, I carefully post things concerning my health to help others, and to get some moral support from good friends.)
So if you make a goal to get away on the weekends, or every so often, and then get to do some of those things, that would be fun for the guys.
Oh, oh! I know Dayton is another hour farther from where you live, but the Air Force Museum is quite popular, and cheap. Used to be free and might still be. They have an Imax theater which used to have a low cost. It can be overwhelming because the museum has SO. MUCH. STUFF. They do rotate some of their stuff (I think), but they used to have a supersonic plane, and missiles for space. Also an Apollo space capsule and a bomber inside that everyone can go through. If guys have any interest in airplanes and missiles, it’s a pretty good place to go.
I am sorry you are having a rough day. I know there is probably nothing I can say, but I am going to try. 🙂 I think, as parents, we are the hardest on ourselves. Take heart, I know with my son, a bike ride and picnic on the park is just as much fun for him as going to the movies. One is free, the other is not. Spending money does not always equal the best time. The other day we sat around playing monopoly (his choice) for about an hour. After we cleaned it up for dinner he said to me, “You know what Mom, that was more fun than playing video games.” (video games is all he ever wants to do!) My heart melted. Kids just want our attention and to know we love them. I hope that helps.