The light bulb moment

I wouldn't say that I didn't believe the stories I heard of frazzled mothers and their actions but I may have thought they were slightly exaggerated. 

But that all changed when I found myself, at 11:30 at night, rounding the corner into the kitchen, and before I knew it I had stuffed a chicken nugget that had been sitting on the counter for four hours into my mouth. I didn't even think about it, I just stuffed it. 

First let me just say that, in the past, I wouldn't have had chicken nuggets sitting on the counter. And second, I wouldn't of put the chicken nugget in my mouth at 11:30 at night. But this night I hadn't eaten dinner because Little Man had a meltdown while I was serving him his dinner, so I had to coax him into eating and just never got back to my meal. 

And it's around this time of reflection, that I realized then that my hair had been in a sloppy bun on top of my head every night (and day for that matter) for the last five weeks. 

I literally had to look at a calendar to remember the last shower I had taken.  

Dirty dishes were in my sink. 

The trash had a distinctive shit smell to it from Little Man's last diaper change and I had been too tired to bag it up and take it outside. 

I think there were some dirty socks sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor because that's where Little Man had taken them off.  

Disney Pandora was still playing WELL after Little Man had gone to bed and was asleep. 

And at that point, I knew the stories were not exaggerated.  

I am a mom.