A few days ago, I started to write my blog post for yesterday… and then I got distracted and never finished it. So, I’ll postpone that topic till next week in favor of writing this post.
Wednesday- It was a normal day. I was feeling overwhelmed, as I do pretty much every day. I’d woken my husband up early because I was struggling, and feeling bad that I’d woken him up yet again instead of letting him sleep. He was obviously exhausted (he works until 6:30am, and usually waits till after breakfast to go to sleep and only gets around 5 hours of sleep, usually less, on weekdays). I felt horrible and realized I needed to get myself and the kids out of the house. So, I packed everything up and grabbed snacks spur of the moment, and off we went to the park. Once we got to the park I started having a sharp pain in my stomach, and I realized I forgot to put sunscreen on the kids, and myself. Not good.
I ended up calling my husband and waking him up, again. He came to the park with medicine (which I didn’t end up needing because by the time he got there I was feeling fine) and sunscreen and then laid down on the blanket I’d brought with us and fell asleep in the shade until our youngest was ready for a nap.
My oldest and I stayed at the park awhile longer and then walked to another park and I let her play and run around while I relaxed in the grass in the shade. It was nice and we had a lot of fun. It went so well, that I made plans for the kids and I to meet up with my cousins and their little kids at the library the next day (yesterday) and then go to the park together.
Unfortunately, that night I noticed I was starting to get a sunburn, and by the next morning it was bright red and painful. So, I did some research and bought myself a sunhat on amazon, and some better sunscreen, and it arrived yesterday morning before we left for the library.
Thursday- everything went much smoother, yesterday. We lathered up with sunscreen and I wore a short sleeve shirt that covered the majority of my sunburn from the day before. We walked to the library and hung out with my cousins and their kids for an hour or two and then I walked home and grabbed some snacks and outdoor toys and my oldest and I went back out while my youngest stayed home and took a nap with daddy.
We had a lot of fun hanging out and enjoyed the sun and fresh air. My oldest especially loved playing frisbee with my cousin’s husband and my other cousin’s son (his nephew) and running off with the frisbee instead of tossing it back or running it back to them. I had a minor runny nose but figured it was just a small case of seasonal allergies and I didn’t worry much about it. We stayed there for a couple hours. When my cousins and their kids left, I considered walking home, but then I noticed how miserable I was. Not only was my sunburn painful, but I had a runny nose, and my eyes were itchy and one felt dry. My “minor” allergies were apparently pretty bad. I’ve never had seasonal allergies, so this was a new thing to me.
I asked my husband to drive over with our youngest (who was awake from her nap by then) and he brought allergy medicine and my inhaler and eyedrops for my allergies.
Obviously, I need to plan better for these sorts of outings, but at least I learned a couple things:
- Always bring sunscreen and don’t forget to put it on before going outside!
- Keep allergy medicine on hand, even if you have never had allergies before! Seriously, I was fine… until I wasn’t. They can start any time at any age. I’m nearly 32 and I’ve never had seasonal allergies before now. I’d rather keep up to date allergy meds on hand and never need them, than need them and not have them.
It’s great to get outside! Just make sure to think everything through. Don’t do it spur of the moment, like I did, unless you don’t care if you forget something important. I look forward to doing this again! But I think I’ll make a list of things I need to pack for trips outside… like a daily allergy medication, and sunscreen. And a first aid kit (I’m so lucky there were no serious injuries requiring a bandaid or neosporin!) If you’d like me to share my list once I finish it, let me know in the comments below, and I’ll share it next week or the week after! Overall, I’m glad we got out. I just wish it didn’t mean getting a sunburn or discovering I apparently now have bad seasonal allergies.
I hope you all have a good Father’s Day this weekend! I’m so grateful for my amazing husband, without whom I don’t think I could handle the responsibility of being a mom. He is my rock and support and I couldn’t do it without him. So, Happy Father’s Day especially to my husband. And Happy Father’s Day to my dad, my father-in-law(s), and all the other amazing men in my life. I love you all!
Clarissa
The Neurodivergent Homemaker 