Day Twenty-Eight: Canasta!

Some days, any additional commitments, beyond those of the basic needs of my family, feel overwhelming.  Today was definitely one of those days.  So as much as my commitment to this experiment has overwhelmingly affected my life for the better, the utter exhaustion I have experienced today has made it hard for me to be motivated to do anything above and beyond what we need for survival.  Let me put things plainly:  Today I am not feeling it!  

To explain, let me give you a brief rundown of the last 24 hours...  I will make this as brief as possible:

Liam = Sick...  Hacking cough.  Is not able to breathe through his nose, and subsequently has a hard time sleeping while lying flat.  For the past few days, I have had to drive him around to get him to nap and overnights are miserable.  On a happier note, tomorrow is his 2nd Birthday, so I am busy preparing for his party this weekend and my mother is, (thankfully), in town and staying with us.

Gracie = Sick.  Hacking cough leading to violent projectile vomiting followed by gagging and choking.  Can't breathe well through nose.  Considered going to ER last night but snowstorm made travel treacherous so after consulting with the doctor we took shifts staying awake with her all night and saw the doctor today.  Just to be told to continue monitoring her 24-7.  

Me = Exhausted, stress case.      

Gracie being "steamed" in the bathroom at midnight...

So guess how psyched I was to seek out novelty tonight?  Yup.  Not very...  I knew that if I had to, I could cop out and chalk Gracie being so sick for the first time up as a novel experience.  However, a commitment is a commitment and with my mother, husband, and best friend all at the house this evening to help share the load with the kiddos, I figured I could come up with SOMETHING.  

Given my mental and physical status, it was absolutely imperative that this novel experience not be stressful...  or too far out of my comfort zone...  or require me to move...  or think...  So, after borrowing some brain power from my mother, I decided that my novel experience for tonight would be to learn how to play Canasta.  The only problem was that not one of the five other people in the house knew how to play.  After reading through several versions of the rules of the game on different websites, I determined that my brain was not functioning well enough to understand what it was I was supposed to do.  Therefore, I figured my best bet was to jump into a game online and learn as I go.  Which is exactly what I ended up doing!

After I grasped the basic game play, I actually found this experience to be enjoyable.  As I sat up with my sleeping babe, I was able to zone out a bit while still being able to remain vigilant to her needs and listen to her breathe.  The distraction from my worried thoughts was very much welcomed, and it allowed the time to pass quickly during my overnight shift.

Still, today's novel experience took a great deal of effort.  I have noticed that my motivation to seek novelty fluctuates with the events of my days.  On good days, when I get enough sleep and my basic needs get met, I tend to feel excited and enthusiastic about my quest for novelty.  However, on days when things are not going my way, novelty seeking ends up feeling like a burden. Unlike food, shelter, and sleep, experiencing novelty is a bonus.  Novel experiences are kind of like the icing on the cake of life - not essential, but it sure makes the whole thing taste better!  

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs argues that your more basic sets of needs have to be met before you can tackle the higher order needs.  As a mother, I feel like most days I am just trying to hike up Maslow's pyramid as high as I possibly can go.  Oftentimes, I don't get very far...  (It's staggering to me how long it can take to simply feed a toddler one full meal!)  However, today I got stuck at the bottom of the pyramid, only barely able to meet the basics for myself and my family...  Finding a novel experience to do on a day like today was an unnatural leap up the pyramid...  the motivation was not really there.  However, I still found that I benefited from the effort.

So now, dear readers, it's off to bed for this very tired mama!  I am very much motivated to have the novel experience of 8 full hours of sleep.  It is doubtful that tonight will be the night, but I am always willing to give it a try!