When Little Man and Jameson we little, I was an awesome mom. Not perfect by
any means, but I spent a lot of time and energy planning meals,
activities, playdates and games to keep my boys learning new things and
having loads of fun in the process. I let Little Man use an entire bottle
of glue on one piece of paper and only put one bean on it if that was
what he wanted. I let them play in dirt and water and paint with
pudding. We made rocket ships out of cardboard and spent hours flying
them around. And I played with them on their terms, not mine, with real
joy.
When Jameson got sick, the play stopped. I was never home and when I
was, we would snuggle and read a book and go to sleep because everyone
was too tired. For four months, Little Man not only lost his best friend
and brother, but he lost me, too. I was gone; even when I was home, I
was a skeleton of a person, filled with fear over what what happening
with J, guilt over not spending time with Little Man, sheer exhaustion from
the overwhelming anxiety of it all and inability to sleep. I was a
mess.
When Jameson died, I think in some ways, it was a relief for Little Man,
because at least Mom and Dad were home again. But it was so different.
The grief. The silence. The dynamic had changed completely. I feel
like my playfulness died with Jameson and I didn't know how to "be" with
just Little Man. For months, he played alone while I sat on the couch and
watched him, trying to just make it through the hours without crying,
without shutting down, without completely falling apart. I could fake
it for a few minutes here and there, but it wasn't the same and we both
knew it.
I was a crappy, crappy mom. Poor Little Man went from having an awesome
mom and the world's best brother, to being a lonely, only child with a
shell of a mom. I'm getting better, but it still isn't like it used to
be. I don't know how to play like we used to. It seems foreign to me.
I don't even feel like I'm the same person and it sucks. I wish I
could just be that happy, awesome mom again. But I'm not. I love my
son so much and I have such awful guilt over not being able to just get
on the floor and play with him with ease and joy like I used to. And
this is hard and scary to write this out and share with you.
I'm working hard to be a good mom, but so often when we do play now, it
is totally on my terms. And I want him to look forward to playing with
his mama. So this weekend, I'm completely going outside of my comfort
zone and doing something that I'm not looking forward to at all.
Something that I never saw myself doing.
I'm learning how to play Pokemon trading cards. And I'm praying for a joyful spirit, too.
Baby steps...
If any of you are seasoned Pokemon moms, please give me some hints here. I'm totally confused so far.
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