Yesterday was a particularly tough day for me. My brain was not feeling the best, and the claws of burnout were grasping at me trying to pull me under. All I wanted to do was quit. I wanted to quit school. I wanted to quit work. I wanted to quit being a stepmom. I was exhausted and cynical.
So I did quit, but just for the day.
I decided that for the day, I was not a stepmom. I redirected all my kids’ requests to their dad. I was not a Ph.D. student. I was a bum who didn’t go to school. I was not a graduate instructor. I pretended like I quit being an instructor just for the day. Instead, I stayed home. I took a nap and binge-watched Grey’s Anatomy.
I quit every responsibility I possibly could for the whole day. And guess what. It helped!
Your mental health is much like your physical health in that sometimes you need to take sick days for your mental health just as you would if you had the flu.
Taking a mental health day can help reset your brain so you can tackle all your responsibilities. As a parent, you might say “well I can’t just quit being a parent”, and because I am a stepparent, you might be thinking “well as a biological parent you can’t just quit”
No, as a parent and as a stepparent, you can’t just quit, but if you have someone to help you out, you can push most of the responsibilities to your spouse/other parent (or grandparent, or friend) for one or two days. It won’t ruin your relationship with your kids and won’t be the end of the world if your partner, parent, or friend helped you parent for a day or two. Parenting when you are not feeling well can be detrimental, so allow yourself a day of fewer responsibilities to heal your brain.
For tips to help prevent burnout, see Top Ten Self-Care Activities You Can Do Every Day.
