Autistic Mom Burnout Tip 1

CAN IT BE AVOIDED? Maybe… or Maybe not…

IS IT AS EASY AS IT SOUNDS to “AVOID”? Heck no!

When I say I understand what you mean when you feel the burnout stage setting in, believe me, I UNDERSTAND! And for the most part I’m going to even say it’s pretty normal for us to go through this. There have been more times than I could even try to count that I’ve cried myself to sleep at night. My mind races constantly with questions of WHY this or How that. It seems like a never-ending struggle that you are facing alone.  You may actually be alone in the household or alone in the room but hear me when I say we are out here! Going through the same thing.

How do we cope with that? How would knowing you are not the only mom going through this help you actually get through the hard days? To be honest it probably won’t, when you are in those moments. What it could help with though is when you pick yourself up off the floor from having a complete meltdown, you can then reach out to someone who understands and will let you vent in a way that only another mom going through the same thing would understand. Maybe one day we could figure out a way to make those mom friends who just get it but until then let’s see what will help.

Tip 1: Get a notebook, something you can keep under your nightstand that you can put all your feelings into. This will give you an outlet of letting those words and feelings go. I can’t be the only one who has spewed out my feelings onto my child after the 900th battle of the day and I’ve reached my breaking point. The guilt from it sends me into all the feelings. Now I’m crying and throwing a pity party, screaming at God. And I feel horrible about it. So having a notebook or place to get my feelings out regularly does help keep me from bottling it all up until it explodes.

You don’t have to be a writer and you don’t have to show anyone, but it will give you a place to get those feelings out. It can be words, drawings, scribbles, doodles…. whatever it is that gets your creative side kicking into gear when you need it. Being in your feelings, with all those emotions raging through you is the perfect time to tune into your creative side. What does avoid mean anyway? To keep away from or stop oneself from doing (something). In our case we are avoiding mom burnout, specifically related to moms with autistic children. Let’s stop ourselves for staying in the burnout for too long. Let’s keep away from the burnout by channeling into our creativity in those trying times. This might be a daily outlet for you, others may only get to this once a week or once a month and that’s ok. This isn’t something that you want to add to your already huge list of daily tasks, it’s something to help you avoid those burnouts. It’s for you! You want to try it? Get a notebook! And tell me how it goes.

From a mother’s perspective – Rachel