mothers

I Really Don’t Know

November 12, 2021January 16, 2022 Imani M. Watson

Mommy thoughts: “You’re not alone. We’re all battling struggles with both life and parenting. You’re also not a superhuman so just focus on & start at step one, which is simply acknowledging that you’re struggling with something!”

The Break: Where to start? I have like 5 places I would like to but I don’t know where it makes the most sense…I always say I want to have a better relationship with time, but up until about a month ago, I’m not even sure what that statement really meant. Currently in a space where it feels like I have all the time in the world, to have no time.

I wish I had some fancy statement to explain why I haven’t blogged in two months, but it’s as simple as life being too damn heavy. The thought of sitting down and writing has seemed like such an unreachable task & I can only blame myself for the disconnect. However, life is heavy enough so I won’t. I’ll simply start here and only hope that I can retain and maintain balance in this life moving forward.

I still don’t know if the neurologist delivered the news so calmly because the news was that I cannot tolerate stress or if it was just her natural demeanor given the line of work she’s in. Either way it didn’t make it any less stressful. In fact, I can’t remember a time before this, that I cried so hard snot was able to rest on my face. The way she explained it was that there is no explanation. The seizures that occur in my sleep could be life threatening and because of the rate that they’re happening I am now considered to have “Epilepsy.” She let me know that I would need to start medication as early as tonight because with each episode I am minutes away from losing life. She explained that when my body is transitioning from one stage of being awake to sleep, something is happening too fast for my brain to handle. This in turn sends something like a sudden shock to the neurological system. She stated in “simple” terms, what makes this life threatening is that my brain is losing oxygen during the episodes. So if you could, imagine how terrifying it is to get this news followed by a 72 hour sleep study where you’ve had a total of 8 seizures!!

Now, to be beyond thankful, during my brain scans there were no tumors or cancer found, which are found on about 20% of epilepsy patients. I fall within the 80% of us that are told it’s not much of an explanation behind the ‘why.’ So with this, I need to avoid any type of stimulating or stressful situations, events, or lifestyles. Not hard at all, except what the hell is stimulating and stressing me out in my sleep? I’ve had a couple months to think about her words. Replaying over and over trying to find something to trust about them. That is until I no longer wanted to understand the words. I instead wanted to know why they felt like such a knife to my chest, then they made all the sense in the world.

From her words I was reminded of what life really feels like for me as an individual. You’re telling me some of the hardest news I’ve ever heard and doing so in the most emotionless way. In logic, I get it. But the picture it brought together for me was enough to recognize that I have a real issue with feeling like people don’t see me as a human, who has the capacity to feel hurt and struggle as any other. What’s backwards about it is the feeling only emphasized after becoming a mother and being given another life to be responsible for. This moment made me reflect to ask myself, “why?” Why is it that I could go through the worst shit and the only thing that’d amaze people would be me freaking out about it.

In conclusion to my reflection I was able to address myself versus the people who may choose to look beyond the struggles I face. People will only treat you how you treat you. Up until this point I have believed that I’m taking care of, catering to, and being gentle with myself, but the reality is, I’m not. I don’t allow myself the proper amount of grace and ease that I need to fully walk and live in my purpose. From what I know, it’s bigger than what I can see and it’ll take a level of dedication that I’ve never seen. And I don’t mean dedication in its usual form, I mean dedication to really just stop, listen, and follow. We take dedication and make it into an action but in this case I think it’s calling for the exact opposite. After all of this, I took a 30 day break from social media and work in general. What was learned is that there shouldn’t have been a time stamp. I need to take as long as I need because what’s for me will always be for me and that stands true for ALL OF US! There shouldn’t be an urgency to get to the things that are set for us because it creates unnecessary stress, even if we’re managing it well. Remember, the goal should never be to properly “manage” the stress, we are working to eliminate it as a whole!

Please share in the comments or find me on social media to share your thoughts for a chance to win $10 Amazon gift card!

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Quarantine Learning

May 8, 2020 Imani M. Watson

Funny how in the beginning of quarantine, I was in bliss with finding time to embrace solitude. Two months later and I have now realized that this can also be a formula for leading someone into insanity. Sitting at home for 8-9 weeks at a time, with a toddler who can only understand current times as an extended vacation can be one of the hardest jobs. I have no problem admitting that this has been one of the most trying times for me as a mother and as a person in general. I initially wanted to isolate to find some balance within finishing grad school, parenting, working from home, and adjusting to rapidly changing times, but I found much more than what I was looking for.

During the month of April, I took 2 days to be completely isolated from the world. I did this with the intentions of finding balance and understanding where I was struggling with this new way of life. To my surprise, the uneasy feeling that lead me into this, had more to it than just my struggle with abiding by a “Stay in Place” order. Some of the things that I learned during these two days included…

Quarantine is getting to me more than I was able to admit. The lack of structure in life and uncertainty has had an effect on my thought process and mind.
I have to change my DNA to fully achieve the transformation I am looking for.
I have a problem with my attachment to people.
Love is not an emotion & “need love” will never work.
I need to be back in therapy and stop taking breaks.
We are not all in the same boat. We are just experiencing the same storm.
I need to be more serious about my craft.
I have not been grounded in a healthy space.
I want 100% happiness & peace and I won’t stop until it’s there, no matter what.
Aiden brings light to my life in ways that I don’t fully understand.
I truly want to give up hard liquor.
Physical health is more important to me than I realized.

Even with being the author of the list, it still caught me by surprise. These were not things that I went in thinking that I needed to address and/or work on. They were things that came to light when I took time to figure out why I felt so imbalanced. I have not completely worked through all 12 learned points, but I have definitely been able to find some peace and balance in knowing exactly what it is I am to work on during this time and after! With this, I would like to encourage mommies and any one else to take time to balance yourself in whatever way that may be.

Those of us at home with children know that there has not been an “abundance of time,” afforded during this time. Or so it may feel that way. Do not beat yourself up further, but instead figure yourself out and where you are struggling the most. Meditating and writing are responsible for keeping me out of a mommy psych ward & I would love to hear about how you are keeping yourself out of one!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY WEEKEND MOMMIES!

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Sleepless Nights

April 1, 2019 Imani M. Watson

Imagine having to deal with everyday stressors of parenting, on top of having a black son in this life we live in. There is something different in me as I began to write this entry. Something I don’t usually feel when I set out to publish. I usually try to go in with a clear mind and in a peaceful state. I am not at peace at this moment and my mind is totally disrupted.

When I first got pregnant, I begged & pleaded to the universe that I needed a son. When he was still an infant, I remember my family joking that I might as well put him in a life size plastic ball because I was SO obsessed with protecting him. I was SO obsessed with the idea of not allowing him to feel pain. I begged the universe because I needed to fill a void of my brothers belonging to me, but not being mine. I needed to feel the same love for a black boy & know that no one could take him away from me. But I guess I never thought about the fact that in this cruel world anyone or thing could take my baby from me. The fact that my baby would have one of the most easily disposable bodies in this place I call life.

At the point that I split with my child’s father, I knew that statistically speaking, I would be running a higher risk of losing my baby in some form by separating him from a two parent household. & over the last year I have struggled in silence with forgiving myself. I have wrote it out, I have stared myself in the mirror, & I have spent many nights fighting tears because I have struggled to forgive myself. Forgive myself for begging for & being granted with a boy with brown skin. Forgive myself for creating unfair circumstances for him. Forgive myself for the stress that me & his father had to go through, effecting our ability to love him, to be present for him, to focus on him. Forgive myself for not being as ready for him as I thought. Forgive myself for disrupting his innocent life. And MOST importantly, forgive myself for bringing him into a world that is not equipped for him to survive in. The scariest element being that I could lose him to this world. & of course I am aware that the one thing that is inescapable in this life is death. But there is something different about the death of black men & boys who are murdered. Connected or not, I ALWAYS feel physical pain in my heart.

As I have come closer to terms with accepting it & doing the best that I could to forgive me. Death has taken me back to that space that I was starting to crawl out of. Knowing that if I do not educate him on this place I have invited him into, that creates a target on his back & if I over educate him, that too will create a target on his back is an extremely overwhelming feeling. I had been doing so well, so well that I have not had to hear myself say “I forgive you for bringing a child into this unfair world.” Something I had to hear myself say to stop tearing myself apart. & now as I lay here with my baby, I do not wish to move. I keep replaying the conversation with my family about placing Aiden in a life size plastic ball. Because along with that unforgiving feeling, fear lives within me.

This goes for not just mommies, but parents in general. Forgive yourself. For any reason associated with bringing a child into this world. I share my personal struggle to let all know that you are fighting a fight that many of us do as parents. Although, you may not even be able to identify what it is you’re feeling. We all go through it. & I’ll share what my therapist tries to drill in me in hopes that I could get another parent to believe the same thing. Along with identifying my feelings, I also am able to identify how my ability to parent is effected. When I focus so heavily on self destructive thinking because I can’t forgive myself it blurs the vision of what my role is. My role is to love Aiden unconditionally, reciprocate the peace that he brings to my soul, & to guide him to the best of my ability. Identify your parenting purpose & make that a starting point. Let’s forgive ourselves together! Imagine having to deal with everyday stressors of parenting, on top of having a black son in this life we live in.