Before I was a mom, I was a social butterfly. I loved to get together with friends, talk on the phone and have lengthly text-conversations that could go on, back-and-forth for a few days.
When my first child was born, the sporadic phone conversations stopped. My mother and I would have to schedule a phone conversation during my baby’s nap time. Once our second child was born, talking on the phone disappeared almost altogether. Having a toddler and a baby didn’t leave a lot of room for quiet moments. Anyone who was trying to get a hold of me knew that the best way was to send me a text.
But after my twins were born, the texting that I so enjoyed during night feedings quickly disappeared as my girls went from babies, to two busy and demanding toddlers.
despite my best efforts, there are days when an unanswered text may sit there. No, I am not abandoning my family and friends. In fact, would love to leisurely text back and forth with another adult. But there seems to be a series of events each that occur each time I try to reply to a text.
Here are 10 reasons why I might not text you back right away…
1. Someone injured themselves. This is the most common reason that I don’t get right back to you. I have just read your text and it has put a smile on my face. I go to type a witty response, and wham! Waaaaahhhhhh…. the wailing begins. One of my toddlers has smacked their head on the kitchen table. Instead of replying, I am holding her tight, looking out the window, distracting her from the pain by asking to point out each cloud, while giving her kisses.
2. A fight broke out. I am currently away from my phone at the moment because I have morphed from a mother into a referee, a lawyer, a judge, a prison guard and a therapist, all-in-one. Although I really do want to finalize the plans we were making, at the moment I am trying to quiet two hysterical children enough to get each side of the story so I can decide suitable punishment.
3. I just realized that the mystery item in my toddler’s hands is poop. Occasionally I will change a diaper and forget to move it out of my child’s reach. I think I can stop there and you will understand.
4. I am mid-text and was interrupted. On occasion, I have been mid typing a reply when one of my kids insists they desperately need me right at that exact moment. No, not two seconds later like I suggest. At this point I put my phone down to go see what is so urgent. The person on the other end is left with this cliff-hanger …
5. Someone threw up. When you have four kids in school and daycare, vomiting is a pretty common occurrence. This also sets off a series of events that involves cleaning, changing, sterilization, isolation and often some investigating to figure out who patient zero is. There is a good chance you won’t be hearing back from me for a couple of days at this point.
6. I have “gone dark.” Every once and a while, life gets so busy, hectic and stressful that I have to pull back and go into survival mode. I may not get back to you right away because I am literally so busy, I can barely find the time to pee, or mentally I need to check out for a bit and regain my sanity. Don’t ever take me “going dark” personally, trust me, I am probably not much of a conversationalist at this point anyways.
7. I imagined I already replied to you when I actually didn’t. I blame this one on mommy brain. More often than I’d like to admit, I will honestly think I have replied to you. I know exactly what the reply was and can even picture myself typing it. But in reality, I was in such a mommy-fog that I forgot to reply. This is typically on the same day I have put the milk into the cupboard instead of the fridge and my underwear on inside-out (yes, that is possible, trust me)!
8. I can’t string a sentence together even if my life depended on it. The words are floating around in my brain, but to actually organize them into real sentences is more than I can handle some days. Days when I am running on two hours of sleep can do a number on my IQ. You may get a random emoji on days like this. Take is as my version or morse code… i. need. sleep….
9. Everyone is hungry and I am the chef. I think about 80% of my time I spend with my kids is feeding them. “I’m hungry” is probably the most common phrase in our home. As much as I try to hold them off until dinnertime, nine times out of ten they break me down.
10. One of my kids just emptied and entire (fill in the blank) bottle of baby powder, pack of wipes, box of cereal, jar of diaper cream, glass of water, pack of diapers, box of crackers, garbage can, drawer of folded clothing, cupboard of tupperware, (I can keep going).
Don’t forget to follow Nesting Story on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest!