It should be no secret to those who know me that I am the “I” word. Yes, yes, it is my middle initial but that isn’t what I’m referring to! I am….an introvert! For all of you extroverts out there, let me briefly explain. You get your energy or recharge from being around others, spending time with them, interacting, socializing, you get the point, right?
As an introvert I get my energy by, well, being alone. I recharge when I am allowed to be by myself and enjoy my own company. I am a “social introvert” meaning that I am not necessarily shy and can handle myself in social situations. I don’t willingly go out to meet new people, but if you come into my sphere I will usually talk to you. But it drains me…
Let me give you a simplistic example of how this works for me. I have an 8 ounce glass of water. Each time my phone rings, someone is at the door, I get in a conversation with a neighbor, spend 3 hours at church surrounded by 200 of my closest friends a sip or several sips (3 hour church is like many gulps) is taken out of my glass of water. This is okay. This is life. I’ve learned to deal with you extroverts sucking me dry. But herein lies the problem: Summer. My husband is an extrovert and two of my three children are extroverts. They want to be with me ALL THE TIME! One I hear regularly from Bubba is “Let’s talk.” Oh, please no…. It is usually mindless small talk. Don’t get me wrong, I dearly and completely love my children. But can’t they see that Mommy just needs some time to recharge? I try to go to my room alone but they all appear. I will try to go outside ALONE at night when the air has finally cooled but magically again, they appear. Wait, didn’t I send you all to bed? Weren’t you all watching TV when the door closed? You were so engrossed in a book you couldn’t hear me to do chores! It doesn’t matter. I’m starting to wonder if they think ice cream will appear in my hand if I go outside alone and they don’t want to miss out. We aren’t just talking that they want to share the yard with me…they want to share my space by gluing themselves to me. I spend my days running them to work, activities, play dates and then spend the rest of my day trying to avoid them. I’m starting to think I’m a failure as a parent. I’m already counting down to the end of summer and we are only a month in!
Wait. JellyBean has gone off to babysit, Muffin is playing at the neighbors and Bubba is on the XBOX…I’m going to recharge!
As an introvert I get my energy by, well, being alone. I recharge when I am allowed to be by myself and enjoy my own company. I am a “social introvert” meaning that I am not necessarily shy and can handle myself in social situations. I don’t willingly go out to meet new people, but if you come into my sphere I will usually talk to you. But it drains me…
Let me give you a simplistic example of how this works for me. I have an 8 ounce glass of water. Each time my phone rings, someone is at the door, I get in a conversation with a neighbor, spend 3 hours at church surrounded by 200 of my closest friends a sip or several sips (3 hour church is like many gulps) is taken out of my glass of water. This is okay. This is life. I’ve learned to deal with you extroverts sucking me dry. But herein lies the problem: Summer. My husband is an extrovert and two of my three children are extroverts. They want to be with me ALL THE TIME! One I hear regularly from Bubba is “Let’s talk.” Oh, please no…. It is usually mindless small talk. Don’t get me wrong, I dearly and completely love my children. But can’t they see that Mommy just needs some time to recharge? I try to go to my room alone but they all appear. I will try to go outside ALONE at night when the air has finally cooled but magically again, they appear. Wait, didn’t I send you all to bed? Weren’t you all watching TV when the door closed? You were so engrossed in a book you couldn’t hear me to do chores! It doesn’t matter. I’m starting to wonder if they think ice cream will appear in my hand if I go outside alone and they don’t want to miss out. We aren’t just talking that they want to share the yard with me…they want to share my space by gluing themselves to me. I spend my days running them to work, activities, play dates and then spend the rest of my day trying to avoid them. I’m starting to think I’m a failure as a parent. I’m already counting down to the end of summer and we are only a month in!
Wait. JellyBean has gone off to babysit, Muffin is playing at the neighbors and Bubba is on the XBOX…I’m going to recharge!