Parenting With Mental Illness Is an Inconvenience Not a Choice

Mental illness is an inconvenience.

There are days we wake up and feel off and think, ugh, not today.

Because we know it's going to be a day we struggle with our mental health. We can feel it and instantly know it’s going to be a hard day.

And us moms don’t have time for it.

Not when we have to take the baby to the doctor where she’ll be anxious, and we need to be her calm.

Not when we have a playdate planned and will now be plagued with social anxiety, questioning everything we say and do.

Not when we have so much to do around the house.

Because while we’re caught in our heads,
the laundry will keep piling up because it won’t wash, dry, and fold itself.

Mental illness doesn’t care that we don’t have time to waste an entire day obsessing about things we can’t control.

It doesn’t care about the dirty dishes left in the sink.

It doesn’t care about the meals we need to prepare for our children and how we’re going to take care of them.

So, we are forced into auto-pilot, and as the “to do” list increases, so does our anxiety.

We went to bed the night before, thinking we were going to accomplish so much the next day.

We were going to do ALL THE THINGS, but our minds had other plans.

They decided to take off and leave our bodies completely paralyzed.

The point is no one wakes up and thinks this is the perfect day for a mental health struggle like it’s an exciting UFC fight we’ve been anticipating on ESPN.

We don’t want to fight our minds on top of the everyday stresses of being a mom.

So, when we’re struggling we’re not lazy or a “checked-out mom.”

Because trust, a day spent struggling is the last thing moms have time and energy for.

So, the next time you hear about a mom struggling with her mental health,
I hope you know it’s not a choice.